


Back to June

by hogwartsahoy



Series: Magical Months [2]
Category: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - Thorne & Rowling
Genre: Angst, Best Friends, Book: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Companion Piece, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Compliant, Hogwarts, Letters, M/M, POV Alternating, Sequel, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-13
Updated: 2020-04-16
Packaged: 2021-01-29 23:08:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 41,172
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21418180
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hogwartsahoy/pseuds/hogwartsahoy
Summary: Where September marked the start of a new year at Hogwarts, June marks the end of one. Albus Potter and Scorpius Malfoy, seen through the point of view of family and friends and sometimes themselves, navigate their final months at Hogwarts over their seven years of school and beyond. A sequel/companion piece to Better September.
Relationships: Scorpius Malfoy/Albus Severus Potter
Series: Magical Months [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1543810
Comments: 6
Kudos: 53





	1. Year One - In Which Astoria Malfoy Finds Herself in the Middle

**Author's Note:**

> I had this idea a little while ago after I finished Better September and now it's finally happening! I picked a month, and then I started writing. I've changed up some of the characters who we follow each chapter, focused on different aspects of their lives and different things that Scorpius and Albus face, but the essence of the story is the same.
> 
> Much like Better September, this one will be EIGHT chapters and they'll be posted twice a week – I'm aiming for Wednesday and Sunday this time around (but Chapter 2 might be delayed until Monday since I don't land back home on Sunday after seeing CC until late). It's not necessary to have read Better September before reading this one but if you want a bit more of the backstory for their September, it will likely make the story better for you in the long run!
> 
> We're starting off the first chapter with a POV I didn't explore in Better September but one I've been dying to write – Astoria Malfoy. I have so much love for her and this chapter and her potential as a character so I really hope I did her justice in this first chapter! 
> 
> Most of all, thank you very much for reading and I hope you're excited to see June over the years!

** _Friday, 1 June 2018._ **

It was a strange, yet good, feeling, the one that in under a month Scorpius Malfoy would be living under her roof for the rest of the summer, back from Hogwarts _ and _an entire year older. Astoria Malfoy had missed seeing her son every day, and she’d taken comfort in the fact that she still had Draco by her side and that soon enough, her boy would be home.

Draco was already in the drawing room, a cup of tea sitting beside him on the table and The Daily Prophet opened up in front of him, when Astoria entered. He was scowling at something on the page and Astoria had an inkling of an idea of what it was about. He never particularly liked or trusted the media, and that hadn’t changed, especially now that they had a son. He was more protective than ever, and he’d been trying to shield Astoria from the rumours for years, though some of them had managed to slip through the cracks, much to his dismay. He couldn’t keep everything from her.

Astoria took a seat on the sofa next to him, eyes scanning the paper, though he was holding it in such a way that she couldn’t properly read the words on it anyway – the sun from the large glass doors on the side of the house that led out into the garden was hitting the paper in exactly the right spot. Instead, she decided to watch him… for as long as he’d let her, anyway. He didn’t like being looked at, and he made exceptions sometimes, but still.

To her, and to many others, she suspected, Draco Malfoy had always been a particularly attractive wizard. When they had started dating she had often wondered how someone as handsome as him would want to date someone as plain as her. But Draco saw her as anything other than plain, and Astoria realised soon after that he was much more than handsome – he was smart, incredibly intelligent, loving, caring and most of all, exactly the man she had hoped he was when she’d started falling. They were each others entire world, until Scorpius came along. And then they shared the title.

As she watched him, she noticed the way his grey eyes flickered across the words, as if they weren’t _ really _taking everything in. How his eyebrows would knot together ever so slightly when he read something he didn’t particularly like, how he’d purse his lips at the same time. It was endearing to her.

It wasn’t long after she’d begun to watch him, however, that he glanced away from the newspaper and at her, his previously unimpressed look turning into one of amusement, lips turning up into a smile and eyes lighting up with happiness as he looked at his wife, illuminated by the early morning sun. 

“Are you all right there, staring?” He quirked an eyebrow.

Her smile grew and she nodded. “Perfectly.”

Carefully, he folded up the newspaper and threw it haphazardly on the coffee table in front of him, and Astoria shuffled closer to him so that she could lean against his side. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders as she did. 

“We get our son back this month,” she spoke softly. “_And _it’s your birthday.”

He hummed. “We get him back for a little while.”

Astoria frowned and sat up. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

With a sigh, Draco rubbed his forehead. “I always dreaded coming home when the Hogwarts school year ended. Especially in those last few years. Because it meant spending the whole summer with my father, spending the whole time being groomed to become a Death Eater. I had friends at school, though I would never really call them that, but I never once saw anyone in any sort of friendly way throughout the summer,” he explained. “I would spend my summer waiting to go back to Hogwarts, hoping that my year would be better. Being jealous of Harry Potter… it got tiring quickly, but it was better than being at home. Anything was better than that.”

She turned to face him properly, propping one arm up on the back of the couch and resting her head on her hand. It hurt her to hear things like that from him, and the fact that it was something that clearly still bothered him to this day didn’t escape her notice.

“I have a feeling, that’s all. That soon enough, Scorpius will feel the same way about coming home – that he’ll dread coming home for the summer, but not for the same reasons as me,” he continued. “For the reason that his best friend isn’t here, he’s elsewhere.”

Her frown deepened as she moved a hand to stroke the back of Draco’s head – he hadn’t done anything with his hair yet this morning, and it was still out and long, perfect for Astoria to run her fingers through in an attempt to comfort him. 

“Sweetheart,” she started softly. “Scorpius has a good home to come home to. He has us, and he loves us. He could never dread coming home to that. He’s excited to come home. He said so in his last letter. You read it yourself.”

Draco met his eyes. “But do you think he meant it?”

“Have you ever known our son to be a liar?”

He sighed and shook his head. 

“Because he _ isn’t, _ Draco,” Astoria continued. “And it doesn’t matter, anyway, because Albus Potter will be visiting us during the summer. I’ve made my mind up on that fact already. I made it up on the day we got that letter declaring their friendship in September. He won’t have to dread coming home because he’ll have Albus visiting to look forward to _ and _he’ll have spending time with his wonderful father to look forward to as well.”

She watched him as he took in her words and couldn’t help but notice the look on his face at the suggestion of Albus coming to stay over at their house during the summer, but Astoria was insistent.

“Does he have to come _ here _? Can’t they go elsewhere?”

Astoria glared at him. “He’s coming here, Draco,” she said, rather forcefully. “You were lonely as a child. You didn’t see friends over the summer. I don’t want him to feel lonely and trapped here, away from his friend, just because you don’t like his friend’s father. He deserves better than that, Draco. I know you know that.”

She could see his disapproval crumbling when he looked at her, and it was hard not to smile at the simple fact that he crumbled so easily when she was so insistent. He shook his head and chuckled softly before pulling her closer for a kiss. 

“You’ve got me wrapped around your finger, you know that?” He hummed.

“Oh, I know.”

* * *

** _Sunday, 3 June 2018. _ **

Astoria thanked the woman who held the door open in front of her as she stepped into the coffee shop and out of the slightly warm June air. It wasn’t summer yet, but it was clear that it was creeping up quickly and Astoria regretted wearing a coat out of the house, even though she did get strangely cold in the hot weather sometimes.

She’d told Draco that she was meeting up with an old school friend to catch up and he had believed her. He’d seemed happy that she was getting out of the house, figured it was a sort of sign that she might be getting better, that her illness wasn’t getting the better of her, though she wasn’t so sure. She was known to fight through that sort of stuff. Still, she’d kept up the pretense to keep him hopeful and stop his worrying.

In the future, she would tell him what she was really doing.

Her smile grew as she spotted the familiar red hair of her friend in the corner of the coffee shop – they often chose to meet up at Muggle establishments simply because they were less likely to be spied on by nosy wizards there. 

She shrugged off her coat as she reached the chair and Ginny Potter looked up at her, a smile on her face despite her slightly late arrival. Astoria had never imagined being able to call Ginny her friend. She’d seen her around at school and been in complete awe of the wonderful witch she was becoming, but friends had been out of the question. She, a Greengrass, could not befriend a Weasley, no matter how much she wanted to. She had their sons to thank for that development in their friendship, though. She had their sons to thank for a lot.

Hanging her coat on the back of her chair, Astoria took the seat opposite her.

“I’m sorry I’m late,” she explained. “I slept in a little this morning.”

Ginny waved her hand. “No need to apologise. I had to drop off Lily with mum anyway. If you were five minutes earlier _ I _would have been the late one,” she admitted. “I ordered your usual. Is that all right?”

“Oh, that’s perfect,” Astoria thanked her gratefully.

This wasn’t the first time that the two women had met up. They’d started writing letters to each other not long after Albus and Scorpius had met on the Hogwarts Express, and their coffee dates had started a few weeks before Christmas. They tended to have them every few weeks, just to catch up on each others lives and to talk, mostly, about their sons. If Harry and Draco weren’t going to get over their differences and do it, then why shouldn’t they do it instead?

“I’m going to miss these over the summer,” Astoria admitted. “But I _ was _just telling Draco the other day that I’m going to invite Albus over to spend time with Scorpius at our house this summer – if that’s alright with you, of course. I’m sure we can sneak in a catch up every now and then with those.”

Ginny nodded. “Absolutely. Albus would love that,” she agreed. “It’ll take Harry a little bit of getting used to, but I'll try to persuade him that it’s a good idea.” She flashed Astoria a grin.

They had decided early on that they wouldn’t meet up in the summer when all the kids were home, simply because there would be too many questions. James and Albus would likely be keeping Ginny busy, and Astoria intended to spend as much of the summer as she could with Scorpius, just on the chance her illness crept up on her. 

She didn’t like to think about that, though.

“I bet you’re excited to have Scorpius home,” Ginny spoke, just as their drinks arrived. They both thanked the waitress and waited until she left to speak again.

“I am,” Astoria confirmed. “It’s quiet at home when Draco is at work, and the house feels bigger when it’s empty. I would say the same for you, but two boys coming home sounds like it’ll be a bit rowdier than my _ one_.” She chuckled at the thought. 

“It’ll certainly be a lot louder,” Ginny agreed with a laugh. “I’ve enjoyed these quieter few months with Lily. But even though James will be sure to cause as much chaos and noise as he can over the summer, it will be nice to have them both home. I think Lily is looking forward to seeing her brothers again. She doesn’t like being on her own very much.”

Astoria smiled at that. “You grew up in a large family too, so I suppose you passed that gene on. The gene of being absolutely surrounded by siblings and not having a quiet moment to yourself.”

“Oh, and brothers at that. In theory, it would have been nice to have given her a sister, but three is more than enough,” she explained. “We had our hands full with James.”

Astoria would have liked another child. Though she knew, even before she fell pregnant with Scorpius, that there would never be another. Just like she knew she would not grow old with Draco, no matter how much she wanted to. She could never give Scorpius a brother or a sister. And she knew she would always feel a little disappointed in herself and her curse for not being able to give him that.

But she could, luckily, live knowing that Draco would not be alone whenever she was gone, whenever that was. That would be a fact that would send her off content.

She liked hearing about Ginny’s family, though. While Astoria had never met the boys, nor had she met Lily, Ginny had shown her plenty of photos over the few months they’d been meeting up. Astoria had shared a few of Scorpius, too, but not too many. She found herself very protective of his childhood photos. 

That, and if Draco found out she’d been sharing them around, even if it _ was _only with Ginny, a woman she admired and trusted very much, he probably wouldn’t be thrilled.

Still, the coffee dates with Ginny made her happy. Sharing memories, sharing time with another woman – a _ mother _who understood what she was feeling, and knowing that her Scorpius had a strong friendship with a boy that had a wonderful mother. It was everything to her, and she suspected it always would be.

* * *

** _Tuesday, 5 June 2018._ **

Astoria entered Draco’s office with a letter addressed to him in one hand and a cupcake reading _ Happy Birthday _in the other. It had been a long day and she’d barely seen her husband for a second of it – he’d been too busy reading over old files.

“I think it’s time you took a break, don’t you?” 

He looked up from his desk and smiled as he saw her walking towards him.

“What’s that you’ve got there?” He inquired.

“Well, it _ is _ your birthday, and I made cupcakes.” She held the cupcake out to him and he chuckled as he took it from her. He wasn’t a very sweet-toothed person, but she knew he would eat it anyway. “_And _a letter arrived for you a few minutes ago. From Hogwarts.”

His eyes lit up even more as he took the letter.

“Will you be deathly offended if I open Scorpius’ letter before I eat your cake?” His lips quirked up into a smile as he looked at her, and she didn’t miss how he’d already turned the envelope over and started to fiddle with the seal. 

She shook her head. “Read it, darling.”

He broke the seal, removed the letter from the envelope and started to read. Busying herself, Astoria moved to lean up against his desk and glanced down at the books and stacks of papers on his desk. 

After a few moments, Draco smiled and folded up the letter, clearly happy and content with what their son had written. “Did you want to read it?” He held it up, and Astoria instantly shook her head.

“No, that’s yours. Whatever he wrote belongs to you.” 

He seemed thankful at her words and stood up from the chair to press a kiss to her cheek. Then, he picked the cupcake up from the table. “How many of these have you already eaten downstairs, then?”

“Maybe… two.”

He snorted. “Of course you have… that means you owe me one more.”

And finally, for the first time all afternoon, Draco left his office, cupcake in one hand, holding Astoria’s hand with his other hand, and she led him down to the kitchen where the remaining cupcakes waited. 

* * *

_ **Thursday, 7 June 2018.** _

To Mum,

Hello! I’m _ really _sorry that I haven’t written much lately. I feel really, really bad about it but I’ve been trying to study in all of my free time because I don’t want to fail my exams. I would feel really bad if I did fail them. But I’m giving up some time to study for Charms now to tell you that I am all right and that Hogwarts is doing really well. 

I’m really enjoying all of my lessons and I can’t believe my first year is almost over.

There is one thing, though. But I don’t know how to really say it without sounding mean. Essentially, I am worried that Albus thinks I care more about my exams than I care about our friendship. And I _ do _care about my exams a bit more. But I still care about Albus, too. And I’ve been sacrificing some of our friendship time to study but I don’t want him to feel bad. 

This is a dilemma I’ve been worrying about for a little while now.

If you have any advice, mum, I would really like to hear it.

Love Scorpius.

P.S. I really hope dad liked the letter I sent him and that he had a good birthday.

* * *

Scorpius,

Hello sweetheart. It’s lovely to hear from you. I’m glad you’re focusing on your studies but it’s nice to get a letter from you. I hope you’re studying hard and I feel certain you will pass your exams with flying colours.

Now, about this dilemma – don’t tell your father this, but I talked a little to Ginny Potter, Albus’ mum, about this, and she told me that you don’t need to worry. Albus wouldn’t think that. She said that Albus is just as worried about his exams as you are and that he doesn’t want to fail them and let his father down.

My suggestion would be that the two of you find some time to study together. That way, you can still talk to each other and be in each others company while also studying and getting ready for your exams together.

Let me know how that goes if you try it, sweetheart.

Your father and I are looking forward to seeing you again very soon.

Love Mum xx

P.S. Your father loved the letter and had a good birthday. I baked cupcakes. 

* * *

_ **Monday, 11 June 2018.** _

Mum,

I’ve been feeling a bit homesick since your last letter so I pulled out all of your letters from the whole year and have been reading them before bed for the past few nights. It’s made me think a bit.

You said in your last letter that Ginny said Albus doesn’t want to let his father down.

Mum, I really don’t want to let my father down either. What happens if I come home and I fail my exams and he’s really disappointed with me?

Love Scorpius.

* * *

_ **Thursday, 14 June 2018.** _

Draco placed the now clean dishes from dinner back into the cupboard and turned to look at Astoria, leant up against the kitchen island and sipping on a glass of water. They’d gotten used to cooking for two – it was going to be strange to have to get used to cooking for three when Scorpius returned home. For the first few weeks, they’d always ended up with leftovers the next day.

“Would you mind if we went and had a talk in the drawing room?” Astoria spoke suddenly. He looked a little surprised, which she’d intended. She knew that it was going to come as a surprise, what she was going to say to him, and while she didn’t want to break Scorpius’ trust, Draco needed to know how Scorpius was feeling. He was, after all, only eleven. 

And if he was afraid of his father… Astoria didn’t like to think of that.

Draco nodded slowly and let her lead, following just beside her. He took a seat next to her on the sofa and looked at her, ready to listen to whatever she had to say. She took another sip of her water before speaking.

“When Scorpius gets home, no matter how he thinks he went in his exams or how well he actually did, don’t be too hard on him, and absolutely _ don’t _ridicule him for being friends with a Potter. The time for being mad about that has passed.”

She watched as Draco furrowed his eyebrows and stared at her, clearly confused.

“I got a letter from Scorpius on Monday,” she continued to explain, deciding to break it to Draco as softly as she could. “He’s worried about letting you down if he doesn’t do well in his exams. He doesn’t want to come home and have you disappointed with him.”

Draco was lost for words and Astoria could see it. She watched him carefully as he took in her words and as he leant back on the couch and stared down at his hands. He shook his head in what she assumed was shock or disbelief, or a mix of both.

“Where has this come from?” He spoke, voice free of malice though not free of worry.

Astoria shrugged a shoulder. “I think that Albus feels the same about not wanting to disappoint his father. That’s probably something that Scorpius has started to feel, too, and understandably. Being the son of a Malfoy isn’t an easy job. You know that more than anyone.”

He let out a deep, shuddering breath and ran a hand through his hair – he’d taken it out of the ponytail when he’d gotten home from the Ministry a few hours ago. She could see that there were a million things running through his mind, though he wasn’t speaking about any of it. He was bottling it up. But she could read him better than he thought she could. Frowning, she shuffled towards him.

“Tell me what you’re thinking.”

“I don’t even _ know _ what I’m thinking,” he breathed harshly. “It feels like I’m a teenager again, a teenager who was so afraid of disappointing his parents and didn’t want to let them down for fear of something terrible happening. I felt the _ exact _same way in my first year, and that faded over time but…” He squeezed his eyes shut and covered his face with his hands.

As soon as Astoria heard a noise that sounded vaguely like a sob, she jumped into action, wrapping her arms around him. He didn’t hesitate to hug her back, holding her close and burying his head in her shoulder. She wasn’t sure if he was crying or if he was just on the verge, trying to stop himself, perhaps, from shattering completely, but she held him anyway, not planning on letting go until he was ready.

* * *

  
_ **Tuesday, 19 June 2018.** _

Mum,

Hello! Exams started yesterday and I think they’re going really well so far. I haven’t been stumped by too many of the questions and I’ve left them all feeling really positive every time so far, so I’m hoping that means they’re going well and I’m not just secretly terrible at all of my subjects. I don’t know how Albus is doing, though. He won’t talk about how he’s doing and he seems to be a little unsure both before and after we sit them.

Maybe that’s something based on him not wanting to disappoint his dad.

I talked to him about that, about how I didn’t want to let my dad down, too. He seemed to appreciate that comfort so I’m hoping that he will talk to me about them when exams are finally finished.

I will write again soon. I hope things are going well at home.

Love Scorpius.

* * *

Scorpius,

I’m glad to hear your exams are going well. Your father is glad to hear it, too. I’m sure that Albus will talk about his exams when he’s ready, sweetheart. Until then, just keep making sure you’re there for him like I’m sure you already are. But make sure you’re giving your exams your all, too. I’m sure you’re acing them.

We’ll see you on Saturday.

Love Mum xx

* * *

  
_ **Wednesday, 20 June 2018.** _

Astoria was moments away from switching off the bedroom lights with her wand when Draco, sitting beside her in bed, a book sitting closed on his lap, began to speak. It had nearly been a week since she told him about Scorpius’ letter and he seemed to still be dealing with what he’d heard. Astoria understood that, though Draco was stronger than he thought he was and as soon as Scorpius was home and things went back to normal, Draco would surely know that – she hoped, anyway. 

“Sometimes I really wish things had never changed,” Draco spoke softly, as if he was worried that someone would overhear him even though Astoria was the only other person in the house. He spoke to her and her alone. “That we could have stayed in our own little family.”

She smiled sadly and reached across the sheets to take his hand in hers and give it a squeeze. “I feel the same way sometimes. When Scorpius first got on that train in September, I felt that way for weeks. And when he told us about the bullying.”

Draco looked up and met her eyes. “How did you deal with it? I never asked.”

“I thought about how happy he is,” she said simply. “Remember when he’d check the Daily Prophet every day at breakfast and let out this _ massive _sigh of relief when the first page wasn’t announcing the destruction of Hogwarts? How happy he got when his letter came? How full of joy he was on the night before he left?”

He nodded, listening deeply.

“I think about that. About how he’s wanted to go to Hogwarts his _ entire _life. How he’s wanted to make friends and learn everything he can about magic. And now he’s doing that. Now that’s he’s spending every day – at Hogwarts, the place he’s dreamed about his whole life, with his best friend, learning the magic he’s studied since he was a boy.”

Slowly, Draco started to smile. “That’s a nice way to look at it.”

She squeezed his hand again. “It is,” she agreed. “I could never regret him finding that happiness, no matter how much I sometimes miss what used to be. And if things had stayed the same, if we tried to make them that way again, it wouldn’t be for Scorpius. It would be for us. Things were always bound to change at some point, darling. And we’re going to have to change with them.”

* * *

_ **Friday, 22 June 2018.** _

Mum,

Hello! Exams are finished. We finished our last one this morning and I am exhausted. I hope I’ve done enough to pass them. Albus seems to think that I have done enough and I told him that he’s done enough, too, but I don’t think he believed me. I think he will when our results come in. I’m excited and nervous for mine and I hope that he’ll trust me enough to tell me if he did okay. 

I’m really excited to be coming home tomorrow, but I will miss Hogwarts.

I will miss Albus, too. If it isn’t too much trouble, do you think that Albus could come over and stay for a bit during the summer? I think he’d really enjoy that, and that way he’ll get to see you and dad and I’d love for him to meet you.

Let me know, please, if you can.

Love Scorpius. 

* * *

Dear Scorpius,

I’m glad to hear your exams are over and you’re confident in how you went. Your father and I are eagerly awaiting to hear your results, whatever they may be. We’re also very excited to see you again tomorrow. It’s been a long while without you and we’ll both be at Platform 9 ¾ to greet you. 

I’ve already spoken to your father about Albus coming and staying over the summer and he certainly will be offered an invitation. I would love to meet him, too.

We’ll see you tomorrow, sweetheart.

Lots of love, Mum xx

* * *

_ **Saturday, 23 June 2018.** _

As they walked through King’s Cross Station, Draco protectively wrapped an arm around Astoria, despite the summer heat coursing through the station. It was clearly making many of the travellers antsy and Astoria could understand Draco’s worry – technically he didn’t even want her out of the house in such heat. He’d been keeping up with the Muggle news and a heatwave had been declared the day before, and he’d spoken to her the night before about his hesitance. That, and there were too many eyes, he said. 

Still, she persisted and Draco had eventually been forced to relent and allow her to join him. She’d promised Scorpius that she would be there to greet him and she intended to follow through, even though she _ was _feeling a little under the weather.

Draco need not know that, though.

Platform 9 ¾ was bustling with people when they crossed through the barrier. The train was nowhere in sight but the excitement was clear. Parents and siblings were everywhere, eagerly awaiting the return of the students, and Astoria couldn’t help but smile at the feeling and the fact that she was one of those very parents.

They walked to the opposite end of the platform to find a spare space that wasn’t so crowded. As they walked, Astoria spotted a flash of red hair and looked to see Ginny Potter alongside her husband, Harry, and her daughter, Lily. She’d entirely forgotten that they would obviously be at the station, too. Upon seeing Ginny, Astoria’s smile grew, and Ginny responded with a smile of her own. Though their smiles were discreet and subtle, there were many unspoken words shared between the two of them.

Briefly, Astoria imagined a day where she and Ginny could speak freely while waiting for their sons to arrive back home. A day where Draco and Harry would talk without argument. A day where they could all just _ be _together. 

She noticed Lily looking between the two of them and instinctively gave Lily a small wave. The smile on the younger girls face at the small action from Astoria was, perhaps, the sweetest thing she’d seen all morning. 

“What are you smiling about?” Draco raised an eyebrow as they stopped walking.

“I’m just excited to finally have him home,” Astoria replied. Not _ entirely _a lie, but not entirely the truth either. “Did you see Harry Potter and his family back there?”

Draco gave her a strange look and shook his head. “Regretfully.”

“_Draco,_” she chastised. “Your son is best friends with his son. You’re going to have to learn to live with each other at some point, you know? You can’t resent him forever.”

His smile turned into a smirk. “Is that a challenge?”

Before she could reply, the Hogwarts Express began to pull up to the platform and all conversation was forgotten by the both of them. Their son was on that train, and soon he would be back in their arms.

It was a few minutes before the train fully pulled up and students actually began stepping off the train, and as Astoria watched them running to their families or hugging goodbye to their friends, she was hit with a rush of memories from her time at Hogwarts in this very spot. Some of her favourite memories had come when her family had greeted her and Daphne as they got home for the summer, yet some of her other favourites had been when she and Daphne had left to go back to Hogwarts – the place she called her second home. She felt glad that her son now had a place to call his.

Scorpius saw them before they saw him and ran towards them almost immediately, barrelling fast and _ hard _into Astoria and wrapping his arms tightly around her. She laughed as she hugged him back. Draco had a hand on her back to steady her.

“Easy there, son. Try not to bowl your mother over.” There was a hint of amusement in his town, but mostly concern – he knew how frail she was, and the last thing he wanted was her getting hurt on Platform 9 ¾ in the middle of a heatwave of all things. He did understand Scorpius’ excitement to see her, though. He often felt the same.

She rubbed his back softly as she held him. It had been too long.

“Hello, sweetheart,” she hummed.

She didn’t think she could remember a time where she’d been this happy all year.

He pulled away eventually and looked up at her. There were tears in his eyes and she felt her heart crumble and instantly wanted to pull him back into another hug and never let him go. But she’d save that other hug for later.

“I’m glad to see you, I’ve missed you. We both have,” she spoke truthfully, looking between Scorpius and Draco. They really were the mirror image of each other, though Scorpius had a softer side more visible than his fathers.

She watched, intrigued, as Scorpius stepped towards his father, and his hand twitched as if he were going to raise it for a handshake, but then it seemed Scorpius changed his mind and, much to both Astoria _ and _Draco’s surprise, Scorpius hugged him, too.

“Hi Dad,” Scorpius murmured.

Draco smiled softly. “Hello, son.”

Smiling brighter than she’d ever seen him smile before, Scorpius stepped back away from them both and then glanced over to the side. “Can I introduce you to Albus? He really wants to meet you.”

Astoria nodded before Draco could protest and then Scorpius was grabbing her hand and tugging her away towards Albus without hesitation. Draco followed them, clearly a little wary. Though Astoria _ was _grateful that he was at least coming with them.

When Scorpius stopped, Astoria found herself standing next to Ginny once more. They shared another smile before Scorpius began to speak. Next to him was a boy just a little shorter than him, with dark hair just like his father and the same bright brown eyes as his mother. _ Albus. _

“Mum, Dad,” Scorpius started, worry evident in his voice, “this is Albus.”

Unsurprisingly, Astoria was the first to greet him. She held out a hand and Albus took it and shook it, though she didn’t miss how he trembled a little as he did.

“It’s a pleasure to finally meet you, Albus. I’ve heard lots about you. Scorpius thinks of you very highly.” Albus turned to look at Scorpius and the two boys shared a smile. “I hope you didn’t mind the letter I sent you last September.”

He shook his head. “It was a surprise, but it was really nice. And it’s good to meet you, too. Scorpius talks about you _ all _ the time. Like… _ all _the time.”

Scorpius froze. “_Albus!_”

Astoria smiled. “Well, that’s lovely to hear.”

There was a clear moment of hesitance in Albus before he extended a hand towards Draco. He ought to have heard a lot about Draco from his father, though the young boys they’d been then were far from the men they’d bloomed into, and she was glad to see Draco accept the handshake. 

Ginny, still beside her, subtly nudged her arm and smiled warmly at her. Finally, after all this time, their families were meeting. They wouldn’t be meeting up for a friendly lunch any time soon, but they were, at least, meeting in some way. Astoria finally got to see the children Ginny talked about so lovingly, and Ginny got to finally meet Scorpius.

It was a lovely, full circle moment for them both.

The one thing that was better than all of that, though, was the contagious smile on Scorpius’ face. She’d never witnessed happiness of this level from him before, even though he had always been a rather happy and outgoing child. She’d never seen him around Albus before, so she supposed that was where all of this happiness was coming from. Draco, beside her, seemed just as in awe of the happiness on their son’s face as she was. She reached down and took one of his hands in hers and gave it a squeeze.

They’d definitely be discussing this moment later.

“If it would be all right with you,” Astoria looked between Harry and Ginny, “I’d like to formally offer an invitation for Albus to come and visit Scorpius at our home this summer.”

Scorpius’ face lit up even more, if that was even possible.

“Really?” Albus breathed, clearly a little surprised.

It was Ginny who replied, trying to hide her smile as she did. “What do you think, Albus? Your dad and I are okay with that.”

Albus shook his head, a little bewildered, and then nodded. “That’d be really nice, thank you, Mrs. Malfoy, Mr. Malfoy,” he looked between the both of them. 

She smiled. “Just call me Astoria.”

* * *

_ **Wednesday, 27 June 2018.** _

Draco pressed a kiss to the top of Astoria’s head and affectionately ruffled up Scorpius’ blond mop before he left the bedroom and headed off to the Ministry. It had been a few days now since Scorpius had gotten home and Astoria and Draco had been surprised at how quickly they got used to having their son back around the house.

Sometimes, it was like he was never even gone at all.

This particular morning, Scorpius had surprised them both by creeping into their bed in the early hours of the morning and falling asleep between the both of them – something he hadn’t done since he was _ very _young and something Astoria had missed immensely and assumed he would never do again, since he was growing so fast.

Much to her joy, Draco had taken the moment in stride. And even though he had a meeting at the Ministry, he’d made them all breakfast and delivered several books to the both of them before he did. When he left, Astoria and Scorpius stayed wrapped up in blankets with the remnants of breakfast sat in front of them, both itching to get into the books in front of them.

She’d missed moments like this with her son most of all.

“Did you mind me coming into bed with you and dad this morning? Did dad mind?”

Astoria shook her head. “Absolutely not,” she assured him. “You haven’t done that since you were little. You surprised the both of us, but it was a _ lovely _way to wake up, sweetheart. We thought you were way too old for that.”

He shrugged a shoulder. “I missed you, and I’ll _ never _be too old for hugs.”

“I’m glad to hear that.”

“Being home is… oh, it’s _ so _ weird,” he laughed. “Hogwarts is very different. But it’s just like you and dad said it was going to be… no, it’s _ better, _actually. The castle is so big, and the classes are so interesting and the Professors are all so smart…”

“It’s better?” Astoria was surprised a little. She knew what Hogwarts could be like sometimes, and she wasn’t ignorant to the fact that there had been bouts of bullying, particularly at the very start of the year. Scorpius had chosen not to focus on that fact in his letters, but she knew that the bullying was still happening. She knew he was enjoying Hogwarts despite it, but the discovery that it was _ better _than the stories? It was a pleasant, yet confusing, surprise. 

Yet, Scorpius furiously nodded. “It’s _ better, _ ” he assured her. “You know… when I first got on that train and I saw everyone whispering – and they _ were _whispering – I thought that I might get there and hate it after all. But then Albus walked into my compartment, and he found out about the rumour and he didn’t run away, scared. He sat there, and he shared some of my sweets and when we got to Hogwarts, he stayed with me then, too.”

The sense of wonder in his voice was one Astoria hoped would never leave.

“Was Hogwarts like that for you?” 

Regretfully, she shook her head. “It wasn’t. I was the younger sister of the famous Greengrass family, and everyone _ loved _Daphne. And I always felt a little pushed to the sidelines because of that. But I learnt not to mind. I learnt to live on the sidelines,” she shrugged. “I had some friends. But none that were as great as Albus is to you. I barely even knew your father that well. It was your Aunt Daphne who spoke to him more often since she was his age.” 

“But he married you.”

Her heart fluttered. “He did.”

Scorpius met her eyes. “I don’t like hearing that Hogwarts wasn’t a very happy place for you. Do you feel bad hearing about how much I like it when you had trouble?”

“No, not at all, sweetheart,” she shook her head. “I _ love _ hearing about how much you like it there. It’s been your dream for _ forever. _I want to hear about it all the time. These years… they’ll be the best years of your life. I can’t wait to hear all about them.”


	2. Year Two - In Which Harry Potter Doesn't Know What's Wrong

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where September marked the start of a new year at Hogwarts, June marks the end of one. Albus Potter and Scorpius Malfoy, seen through the point of view of family and friends and sometimes themselves, navigate their final months at Hogwarts over their seven years of school and beyond. A sequel/companion piece to Better September.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now we're at Chapter Two! I apologise for this one being a little bit late – I was in Melbourne from the 14th to the 17th seeing Cursed Child (which I ended up seeing twice while I was there) and I didn't get home until suuuper late on Sunday night so I didn't get a chance to get this up earlier. But here it is!
> 
> This chapter follows Harry Potter and the second year at Hogwarts. I find Harry really difficult to write for but I loved how this one turned out. I hope you like it too!
> 
> Twitter: @hogwartsahoy

_ **Saturday, 1 June 2019** _

Harry Potter had learnt, over the years, to ignore the many eyes that were bound to be on him whenever he left the house. As a child, as a teenager, that had been difficult, he’d never really known _ why _they were so fascinated, even though he had most of the facts already in his mind. He was famous, yes, but he was just a boy with a scar. But as an adult with a growing family, he’d learnt to ignore them very quickly. He’d accepted that there were undoubtedly going to be wizards that would look at him, he just hated the fact that his children were going to have to grow up carrying that burden too.

In particular, he knew Albus struggled with that more than the others. It had definitely been part of the reason that Albus had started to freeze his father out last summer, and why he had been so short with him at Platform 9 ¾ when Harry had attempted to send him off with love. The fact that his son would soon be home should have been something that filled him with joy, but instead he found himself feeling a mix of joy and worry at what Albus’ reaction to seeing him again would be.

Fatherhood would be tough, he’d been told. How tough, he didn’t realise.

He was grateful for one thing, at least – the youngest Potter sat across from him at Florean Fortescue’s Ice Cream Parlour in Diagon Alley, very happily enjoying her Strawberries & Cream flavoured ice cream. She seemed unbothered by the eyes that found them sometimes, by the passing wizards and witches who would mutter things under their breath as they walked past them.

Too focused on her ice cream… buying it had turned out to be a good thing.

“It’s dripping on the side there, Lil,” Harry spoke up, noticing the spill.

She was quick to rectify the situation. “That could have been a disaster.”

Harry chuckled. “It sure could have. Your mum would have been furious if you’d spilled ice cream all over your shirt,” he said. “_And _ we do have to keep this a secret, after all. It is, _ technically, _a sweet, and we both know how your mother feels about those.”

Lily flashed him a cheeky grin that reminded him a lot of James. “There’s still time. And I’ll keep it a secret, I promise. Otherwise mum won’t let me come to Diagon Alley to have more secret ice-cream with you.”

She really _ was _ a perfect mixture of Weasley and Potter. His father, James Potter Sr., had somehow managed to pass on even more of his chaotic energy and cheek to the young girl – Harry had thought James had gotten all of it for a while there. Yet, she was also perfectly Weasley, too – her hair was more red than brown _ and _she was just like her mother and her grandmother in how stubborn she could be.

They were just some of the many things he adored about his daughter.

“Do you think she’ll like the books we got her?” She nodded to the shopping bag sat on the table in front of them. They’d visited Flourish and Blotts before the ice cream to pick up some surprises for Ginny. 

“She’ll love them. _ Especially _because you picked them out.”

Lily’s smile grew and she continued to eat her ice cream, content.

The two had taken the morning to visit Diagon Alley simply because Ginny had to head into the office to work on a Quidditch piece. Harry and Lily had taken advantage of the sunny Saturday to join her, and while she worked around one side of the alley, they shopped. Harry, who was so often preoccupied with his work, found spending moments like this with Lily to be particularly memorable.

Harry people watched around Diagon Alley while Lily finished off her ice-cream and was just about to suggest starting to wander around to the Daily Prophet offices to see how Ginny was getting along with her work when Lily exclaimed, rather loudly, and made him jump.

“It’s the first of June!”

He looked at her, half surprised and half amused, and raised his eyebrows. “It is.”

“That means James and Albus come home this month!”

Suddenly, everything clicked into place and Harry laughed softly – of _ course _that was what she was excited about. She barely shut up about her brothers as it was, and she’d been speaking for weeks about how excited she was for them to be home. This made perfect sense.

“You’re right,” he nodded. “They’ll be back on the twenty-second. They’ll be home before we know it.”

Her happiness was radiating out of her. “And then it’ll officially be summer and _ then _ I get to go to Hogwarts with them on September 1st! I’m so excited, dad. I hope I’m sorted into Gryffindor, like James and Rose. And Hugo will be there with me, too! It’ll be like a whole family gathering. We’ll _ all _be at Hogwarts together.”

Unwittingly, Harry’s smile turned into a frown, noticing how quickly she’d picked James and Rose’s Gryffindor over Albus’ Slytherin. He understood the fascination with Gryffindor – he and Ginny, and practically the entire extended family, were Gryffindor, but how she’d brushed off Albus so quickly… he shook his head. She was only ten, after all. She didn’t worry about these things, not yet. And he wasn’t planning on squashing her excitement by asking why she didn’t seem to like Slytherin as much, even though one of her own brothers had made the house his own for two years now.

He cleared his throat. “Yeah, we’ll be back here in no time, getting all of your school supplies to get you all ready for your first year at Hogwarts. I can’t believe how old you’re getting.”

Lily stuck her tongue out at him. Not _ that _old, he thought. “I think I’m going to start a countdown when we get home. I’ll make it up and it’ll be all pretty and I’ll use a bunch of colours and it’ll help make me more excited.”

“A countdown to September 1st?” He raised an eyebrow. “Good idea.”

She surprised him, though, when she shook her head at his suggestion, as if that was the silliest thing in the world. “No, a countdown to when James and Albus get back on the twenty-second. Because then summer _ properly _ starts and it means we can start going around to see grandma and grandpa more often as a whole family, and we can have sleepovers _ and _we can see Aunt Hermione and Uncle Ron and Rose and Hugo, too!”

Harry watched her, slightly amazed and slightly amused. He hadn’t expected that at all. She was excited, sure, she’d made that clear. But excited enough to start a countdown to her brothers return and not a countdown to her first day at Hogwarts? He shook his head, bewildered. Lily Luna Potter was certainly not a predictable young witch.

“What do you say we head over to The Daily Prophet and see if your mum is done?”

Lily nodded. “But _ only _if we can convince mum to get some butterbeer in The Leaky Cauldron before we go home.”

Chuckling, Harry relented. “I think the both of us can convince her together. _ Now, _ you have until we get there to finish that ice-cream and _ not _spill it all over yourself. Reckon you can do it?”

“I’ve got this,” Lily assured him, with another grin.

* * *

_ **Tuesday, 4 June 2019.** _

Dear Harry,

I appreciate your letter from last week and I apologise for how long it’s taken me to get around to replying – running a school and being a headmistress is a busy job, which I am certain you understand. As for your sons, James seems to be taking the stress of fourth year exams well according to his teachers. He’s a very happy, energetic and outgoing boy, yet he does get himself in trouble from time to time.

Albus, however, is a different story, and I take no liberties in telling you that he’s becoming more and more difficult. He’s being uncooperative in lessons and more than one Professor has spoken to me about his surly attitude lately. I’ve also noticed myself that he rarely spends time with other students or away from the Slytherin Common Room. Scorpius Malfoy seems to be the only constant in his life here at Hogwarts. 

Minerva McGonagall.

* * *

_ **Thursday, 6 June 2019.** _

Dad-Man,

Hello, hello, hello. Your favourite son, here, James. Guess what? I’m actually studying for exams. Can you believe? I’m in my fourth year and _ finally _I’ve started studying. Are you and mum proud of me? I hope you are. If not, I think I’m proud enough of myself to cover the void that my parents not being proud of me will create. 

Anyway, I’m just here to give you a friendly update on your sons because Albus told me he’s given up writing letters in favour of studying (and I don’t believe that but I’m just passing on the message because he told me to). I am doing brilliantly. I’m going to ace all of my exams and probably graduate early because I’m so smart. I wouldn’t get your hopes up for Albus, honestly.

Kidding– kidding, before you send me a howler. He’s doing all right from what I can tell, and from what he’s told me. The bullies are still at it and I nearly yelled at one Gryffindor kid outside Charms the other day because of it. But they’ll get sick of it soon enough, I hope. And I honestly _ do _think he’s studying at least a little bit – not as much as me, angel child, but studying enough.

And, I mean, he passed his exams last year, so he shouldn’t fail these ones.

I’ll keep you updated on all the goings on of Hogwarts.

Love your favourite child, James.

P.S. Two of your kids have now made it through the second year without being petrified by a basilisk and nearly murdered like mum was by a weird creepy memory ghost Voldemort. Maybe Lily will be _ The Chosen One _mwahaha

* * *

_ **Friday, 7 June 2019.** _

With a sigh, Harry sat down on a chair at the kitchen table and carefully placed his freshly made cup of tea in front of him. He held James’ letter from the night before in his hand and had been reading it over and over for most of the morning.

Ginny, sat across from him and working her way slowly through the latest edition of The Daily Prophet that had been delivered not ten minutes earlier, looked up at the sound of his sigh. “What’s that you’ve got there?” She nodded to the letter in his hand.

“Oh, this?” Harry looked down at the letter and then handed it to her across the table. “James sent it last night. You were asleep by the time it got in or I would have shown you… it’s mostly James being, well, _ James… _but there’s something he says about Albus that has really made me think. And with what Professor McGonagall said the other day, too…”

She scanned the letter quickly before looking back at Harry, a look of understanding mixed with what he supposed was sadness on her face. “And these letters were the reason you were awake for most of the night, weren’t they?”

“You never miss a thing, do you?”

Ginny shook her head. “Never,” she agreed. “But what has you thinking?”

He took the letter back from her and read the sentence again. “James said that Albus told him to tell me that he’s given up letters in favour of studying. And James said he doesn’t believe it, and I don’t really believe it either. But then there’s what McGonagall said, about his attitude in lessons, how he’s isolating himself.”

“That’s what I thought,” Ginny frowned. “James is right in not believing it.” She suddenly seemed a little hesitant to speak, but at the look of urging on Harry’s face, continued. “Albus is still writing to me. He has been for weeks. I got a letter on Wednesday from him, Harry. He hasn’t mentioned anything like what McGonagall mentioned in hers, but I believe _ her. _She wouldn’t lie, not about this. Not about Albus, and not to you.”

Harry slumped a little in his chair. “It doesn’t make sense. I know we’ve been rocky this year, I know he didn’t say goodbye properly on Platform 9 ¾ on September 1st, but the fact that he still seems to be holding some sort of grudge? I’m more confused than anything. What have I done, Ginny? What I have I done to make him feel this way? I don’t have a father to base myself off of. I’m trying. But am I not enough for him? Am I not good enough?”

He had such a good relationship with Lily, and even with James, despite his joking nature. And the fact that Albus seemed against even acknowledging his relationship with his father… it hurt. He loved Albus, he loved him more than anything, and he knew how difficult things were for him, especially with the bullying, and he wanted nothing more than to just _ be his father _– to be the father that he never got to have.

But Albus was making that rather difficult

Ginny was up from her chair and moving around the table to sit next to him in an instant. She took one of his hands in hers. “You’ve done nothing wrong, Harry. You’re trying your best, I see that in you every day. You never had a father to base yourself off of, but the fact that this is getting to you… it says enough. And Albus, he’s only a child. He’s twelve years old, and what twelve year old _ doesn’t _resent their father in some way?”

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “I really _ am _trying, Ginny.”

“I know you are, Harry. I know. And he knows that, too.”

“Then why won’t be write? Why won’t _ he _try?” 

She shrugged. “I don’t know. But give him time to figure that out on his own. He’s your son, Harry, and he has a mind of his own. He has to be allowed the time to figure that out. And one of these days, he’ll start writing again. He will.”

Harry squeezed her hand. “You truly believe that?”

“I do,” she nodded. “I really do.”

He glanced down at the letter on the table again and let go of Ginny’s hand so he could fold it up. He had to understand what Ginny was saying, no matter what. Right now, Harry wasn’t the priority to Albus – right now, Albus was a twelve year old in his second year at Hogwarts, focusing on exams and focusing on his friendship with Scorpius Malfoy. He had to be grateful that, at least, he was having a better second year than Harry himself had, and that his friendship was just as strong than the friendship he had with Ron and Hermione when he was twelve, too.

“What would I do without you?” Harry looked up at Ginny.

She shrugged a shoulder. “If you haven’t figured that out by now…”

Harry snorted. “I need to get out of the house… stop thinking about the letter. What do you say the three of us go and get something to eat before I have to head into the Ministry? I’ll go and get Lily ready.”

“I think that sounds wonderful.”

* * *

_ **Monday, 10 June 2019.** _

Harry took one last glance at his office to make sure he had everything before closing the door and walking out into the Ministry. It wasn’t that late, barely past four and definitely the earliest he’d left the Ministry for a while, but he’d promised to cook dinner for Ginny and Lily tonight as an apology for being stuck at work so late for the past week. 

He often saw many wizards he knew in the Ministry, and occasionally he even spotted some of the other people he’d gone to school with and interacted with over the years – those who had survived the war, anyway. Catching sight of family members who had lost loved ones because of him was never easy, though it happened more than he liked. 

The last person he ever expected to see in the Ministry, though, was Draco Malfoy, and as he rounded the corner to the elevators, he spotted the familiar blond ponytail and heard the stern voice of Draco. He prepared himself with a deep breath before Draco saw him.

“Potter,” was his chosen greeting.

“Draco,” Harry spoke in return. “How are you?”

He wanted to keep things civil, even if Draco didn’t agree – the last time they’d seen each other was on September 1st at Platform 9 ¾, where Harry had brushed him off simply because of the fuss he was making about the rumour regarding Scorpius’ parentage. 

Draco, it seemed, didn’t want to engage in small talk. 

“Have you spoken to your son lately?”

Harry furrowed his eyebrows. “No, he hasn’t been writing. He’s been focusing on his studies, considering their second year exams _ do _start in a week.”

Draco snorted and shook his head. “He didn’t much look like he was studying when I took Astoria to visit Scorpius yesterday. The two of them were out in the entrance hall courtyard, actually. Talking, and not a book in sight.” 

“Taking a break from studying isn’t a crime, Draco. We all did it, too.”

Draco glanced around them. “I have a meeting to get to, Potter. But perhaps you should take more care in conversing with your son. Scorpius, he said you don’t really write to him any more. Parenting at its finest, isn’t it?”

He stepped sideways to walk around Harry and was only two steps away when Harry, in his shock and anger, spun around to look at his retreating form. Words were spilling through his mind, but yelling them at the back of Malfoy didn’t seem like the smartest thing to do. Instead, he huffed and straightened his suit before turning back around and walking straight towards the elevators, wishing he’d never bothered to offer the courtesy of speaking to Draco in the first place.

* * *

“I saw Draco when I was leaving the Ministry today,” Harry said, half way through chopping up a carrot for their dinner. Ginny was standing by the stove, a glass of firewhiskey in her hands. Lily was watching something on television in the living room. 

Ginny raised an eyebrow. “Oh? What did he say?”

“Not much,” Harry huffed. He was still a little riled up from what Draco had said to him about his parenting. But he’d fallen back on what Ginny had said to him the week before – he was trying, and it was up to Albus now to return that. He wrote letters to Albus all the time, but it was often hard to keep up a steady stream when Albus’ letters were barely more than a paragraph long and didn’t offer any topic of conversation. “He mentioned that he took Astoria to visit Scorpius yesterday. It seemed strange, considering when we owled Professor McGonagall last month to talk about a visit she vetoed the idea, saying it was too close to the end of term and the students were all busy with their studies.”

He heard Ginny’s sharp intake of breath and glanced over at her.

“Harry… that’s not it.”

“What is it, then?”

She sighed to steady herself. “I’ve been owling Astoria ever since Scorpius and Albus became friends in their first year. To keep the lines of communication open between all of us, but…” she paused. “Astoria, she hasn’t been well lately. Her illness, it started getting worse just before second year started, and it’s been getting worse all year. She… she told me the other day that she doesn’t think she’s going to live long enough to see Scorpius’ third year.”

Harry felt like he’d been punched in the gut. “_ What _ ?” He breathed, sitting the knife he’d been using down, the cooking entirely forgotten. He’d known Astoria was ill, but he didn’t think that she was _ this _ill. That she wasn’t going to make it to see her son’s third year of school… and Scorpius was only twelve, not even a teenager yet.

With a deep breath, he held his hands to his face.

“He’s only a _ child, _Ginny, he’s only a child and he’s going to lose his mother… no child should ever have to go through that… no child should ever have to feel that pain... does he know?”

Ginny shook her head. “He knows she’s sick, he’s known that his whole life, but he doesn’t know it’s this bad. She doesn’t want to scare him, she doesn’t want to make him worry when he’s already stressed enough about his exams. She said that she and Draco are going to sit him down when he gets home for the summer.”

She stepped forward and placed a hand on his shoulder, giving it a squeeze. 

“I grew up without parents,” Harry breathed. “I grew up without them, and the thought that Albus’ best friend is going to have to go through the most important years of his life without his mother… I would have done _ anything _to have memories of my mother… To have had her there with me when I needed her...”

Ginny frowned. “The world is a dark place sometimes.”

He met her eyes. “I wish it didn’t have to be.

* * *

_ **Wednesday, 12 June 2019.** _

Harry woke with a scream.

Heart racing, sweat coating his shirt, causing it to stick to him uncomfortably, and… _ tears coursing down his cheeks? _ He touched them with a tentative hand. And then balled his hands into fists in the blankets at his feet. He jumped when a hand touched his back and whipped around to see- _ Ginny. _

He let out a breath of relief.

“A nightmare?” She asked softly.

Harry nodded.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

He shook his head at first, and then nodded. Because Ginny was a good listener – she clearly _ wanted _to hear about his nightmare. And he knew that talking about it would help him, even though the idea of saying it out loud would make it feel more real. He just had to keep telling himself that it wasn’t. 

“I was… I was on Platform 9 ¾. You were there, too,” he started, voice soft and shaky. Tears were still rolling down his cheeks and he didn’t seem to be able to stop them. “James and Lily, they got off the train– Lily was at Hogwarts. And I– I was looking around for Albus, and I couldn’t see him anywhere and– and I thought maybe he was with Scorpius but he– he _ wasn’t, _Ginny.”

Ginny shuffled closer to him and took one of his hands, still balled in a fist. He slowly loosened it until he could weave his fingers through hers. The comfort it gave him surprised him, yet Ginny was always good at comforting him when he needed it. She was stronger than he was, but he was stronger when she was by his side.

“Where was he?” She asked quietly.

“I asked James. I turned to him and I asked him where Albus was and he said– he said ‘Who’s Albus?’ and… Ginny, I thought he was joking. I thought he was just being silly, you know how he can be silly sometimes, but I asked him again and he– he genuinely didn’t know who I was talking about. And we came home and I went to the photo album you keep downstairs to see our family photos and he wasn’t _ there, _Ginny. It was just the four of us, and Albus… he didn’t exist. He’d never existed but I could remember him so vividly, and nobody else could. I could remember his laughter and how big his heart was and–”

His tears had gotten heavier as he spoke, and he reached a point where he couldn’t continue, finding it harder and harder to breathe through his sobs. He hadn’t had a nightmare in a long time – let alone a nightmare like this. A nightmare that had turned him into a complete and utter mess.

Ginny wrapped an arm around him and rested her head on his shoulder as he cried. “It wasn’t real, Harry. It was just a nightmare. It’s okay, it wasn’t real.”

He shook his head. “Then why does it _ feel _ real? I don’t exist in the eyes of my son, and now my mind is playing tricks on me and telling me that my son doesn’t exist in mine. But he _ does, _ Ginny. He does and he’s _ everything._”

Harry trembled more as he got more and more worked up.

“It’s like I said the other day – he is _ just _ a child. You do exist in his eyes, you’re just not everything to him. I think Scorpius takes that title,” she spoke truthfully. “But one day, Harry, one day he will need you just as much as you need him. One day, you will be at least _ part _of that everything again. And your mind playing tricks… it’s done that your whole life and you’ve learnt to do the right thing regardless. Albus exists, Harry. He’s at Hogwarts right now and he’s okay. He’s okay.”

He turned to look at her and Ginny nearly crumbled as she looked into his eyes, bloodshot and filled with tears. He hadn’t been this broken in a long, _ long _time.

“He’s okay.” He was trying to convince himself. “Albus exists and he’s okay.”

Ginny nodded. “He is.”

A knock sounded on their bedroom door and both of them turned to look at it just as Lily opened it slightly and peered inside. Ginny beckoned her forwards and Harry frantically rubbed at his eyes to remove as many of the tears as he could Lily didn’t need to see him like this. 

“Is everything all right, sweetheart?” Ginny asked as Lily stopped at the foot of the bed and looked between them both.

“I heard someone scream,” She muttered softly, and then crawled up onto the bed.

“Your dad had a bad dream, that’s all.”

Lily looked at him. “Are you all right now?”

He nodded confidently. “I’m all right, all thanks to your mum here,” he assured her. “It’s very late, though, Lils. We should get you back to bed.” He pushed himself off of the bed and held out his hands to Lily, who grabbed them and hopped off the bed alongside him

As they left the room and walked back down the hall to her room, Harry casting Lumos to light the way, Lily looked up at him. “Are you _ sure _you’re okay, dad? I have nightmares sometimes and they can be really scary.”

“I’m just fine, Lils,” he promised. “When you have nightmares, what do you do?”

She thought as she climbed back into bed bed. “I tell myself they aren’t real, and sometimes I wake up James or Albus if they’re here so that they can tell me that, too, and then they hug me and I can sleep again.” She hesitated. “Do you want a hug?”

“I would _ love _a hug.”

Smiling, she threw her arms around him and buried her face in his chest. “I hope this will help you to sleep, dad. Mum said the other day that you can’t sleep sometimes.”

He frowned into the hug and as soon as Lily was back in bed and comfortable, he bid her goodnight, left the room and closed the door behind him. On the way back to his room, he stopped in the hallway, eyes pausing on a family photo taken a few days before Albus’ first year at Hogwarts. His lips quirked up into a small smile.’

Holding his wand up so he could see it better, he looked at himself and sighed – he looked better in that photo. Not so tired, not so exhausted. Ginny, stood beside him, was just as beautiful as she was today. His children were the same, yet younger. James was sporting a cheeky grin, and his hair (which Ginny _ had _combed) was a mess on top of his head. Albus was smiling a smile that Harry hadn’t seen in a while. His hair was a little less messy than James’, but he was strangely similar. Lily was the one who looked the most different from the three of them. Her hair had grown longer and her face had changed with her age, but she was still his little Lily. 

They all were. Still his _ children. _

Sighing, he left the picture and went back into his bedroom. He crawled back into bed beside Ginny, who was still awake. He turned to look at her.

“You’ve been telling Lily that I can’t sleep.”

Ginny frowned sadly at him. “She said you looked tired the other day. She told me that she was worried about you.”

And he felt his already broken heart crack even more in his chest.

* * *

_ **Monday, 17 June 2019.** _

Albus,

It’s been a little while since your mother and I heard from you. Now that you’ve started your exams, we hope that you’re doing well and that you’re not too stressed about them – your mother and I are certain that you’ll pass with flying colours, just like last year. But it’s alright if you don’t, too. Your mother wants you to know that.

James has been keeping us up to date on how you’re going, and we heard that Scorpius’ father and mother visited last weekend. What else has been going on?

We’re looking forward to having you home this weekend.

Love Dad.

* * *

Dad, 

Exams are going well. Scorpius has been helping me study. Been focusing on studying rather than writing letters so that’s why this is short. Tell mum and Lily I miss them.

Albus.

* * *

_ **Friday, 21 June 2019.** _

Dad-Man, 

Your favourite son (again). I finished my exams today! Only three more years and then I’m finished with the blasted things for the rest of my life and I can get a start on my life of being a hermit and doing absolutely nothing – exactly what the Potter name needs.

Tell Lily that the excitement around finishing exams is the best part about Hogwarts and that it’s _ exactly _what she has to look forward to this time next year. Friends? No. The Hogwarts Express? No. The cool castle? No. Finishing exams? YEAH.

See you tomorrow! Bring out the welcome wagon for me.

Love James.

* * *

Harry was playing around with the spaghetti on his plate, twirling the fork around in it but never actually eating any of it. It had started to go cold a few minutes ago and Ginny, sitting opposite him, was getting fed up with his bad attitude. It had been this way for most of the evening and it was becoming tiring.

“You know, I’m really glad that Lily is staying with my parents tonight, because otherwise she’d just be worrying about you and your sour mood. You’re putting a damper on the whole house. I hope whatever it is that’s bothering you will be sorted out by the time we go into London to pick James and Albus up tomorrow.”

She picked up her empty plate and stood, aiming to go to the sink. Harry, however, held up a hand and stopped her. He sighed and placed his fork down on his plate. He hadn’t _ meant _to get into a mood, but he couldn’t help himself. He’d made the dinner yet he couldn’t even enjoy it – at least Ginny had, though.

“James didn’t say anything about Albus in that letter. I have no idea how he’s doing at school no idea how he’s handling his exams. He barely said anything in his letter to me on Monday. He’s drifting further and further away from me and I don’t know what to do about it, Gin.”

A little reluctantly, Ginny sat back down.

“Albus is going to be home _ tomorrow, _Harry. Tomorrow. What are you going to do then? Are you going to act strangely around him for the entire summer and not try your best to fix the void that’s formed between you two? Feeling sorry for yourself is not going to fix anything, Harry.” As she spoke, her tone was forceful. She had a message and she needed it to get across to him. “I get that you don’t have a father to base yourself off of, I get that you’re just crossing your fingers and hoping for the best with this. But you’ve been plagued with nightmares this month, you’ve been overthinking and deconstructing every letter that you get from the boys. But that has to stop, at least for now. When he gets off that train tomorrow, you need to focus on just being a father to him in the best way he’ll let you. You can’t force him to be the son you want him to be. If you spend the whole summer doing that, you’ll just push him away even more. And I know you don’t want that.”

The look on Harry’s face changed into one of regret and he let his head fall into his hands.

“God, you’re _ right, _” he murmured. “Why are you always right?”

Ginny’s frown turned into a small smile. “Someone has to be.”

* * *

_ **Saturday, 22 June 2019.** _

King’s Cross Station was bustling and Harry, as he walked along behind Ginny, Lily, Molly and Arthur, stifled a yawn. He’d been woken up by another nightmare during the night, though thankfully this one hadn’t woken him with a scream and Ginny and Lily had stayed asleep and oblivious. He was glad for that – waking them up earlier in the month, though he’d had no control over it, had just worried them even more.

He’d been up half the night before, anyway, thinking about how he was going to try his best over the summer to be the best father he could be to Albus. Ginny had really gotten to him over dinner, and he was grateful to Molly and Arthur for taking Lily for the night so they could have that conversation without fear of Lily overhearing and worrying like she often tended to do. 

London was _ hot _ today, and Harry was regretting the choice to wear a suit to the station. Arthur, who had just dropped back to walk alongside Harry, had worn a much more appropriate outfit – _ shorts _and a blue and yellow striped shirt, as well as a small blue hat. 

“Excited to have the boys back?” Arthur grinned at him.

Harry did his best to feign excitement. “Well, it sure will be nice to have a little bit more noise in the house. Lily… she’s quiet as a mouse most of the time, save for a few occasions. Still, it’s been a long year without them both.”

“Well, you’d better get used to it–” Arthur hummed. “Lily’ll be off next year!”

The fact was one Harry was trying not to dwell on. Having an empty house would surely be worse than having one that was just _ quiet. _Even when Lily was minding her own business and being silent, it was nice to have her presence in the house. He didn’t want to think about the fact that soon, he’d be living without that in his life.

“I bet you’re enjoying it, though– you and Molly. The quiet house, no kids around. After all of those years wrangling not only your own kids _ plus _ Hermione and I, sometimes, it must be nice.” Harry changed the subject.

Arthur chortled. “You’d think that, _ but _Molly and I have a large amount of grandchildren that tend to take up all of that quiet and free time. And we love spending all of our free time with them. Your kids included.”

Harry smiled. “Thanks for taking Lily last night, by the way. Ginny and I were grateful for the quiet night before today. And Lily loves being over at your place for sleepovers, too.”

“We love having her over,” Arthur shrugged, though his smile remained. “Molly’s going to _ love _all of the grandchildren staying over in the summer.”

“I don’t doubt they’ll all love it, too,” Harry assured him.

They reached the barrier and the conversation ended as Harry and Ginny walked through together, Arthur heading up ahead and taking Lily through at the same time as Molly. The smile on Lily’s face when Harry and Ginny emerged behind them on the other side was one Harry hoped he’d never forget – pure joy, the _ purest _of joy. He never wanted that innocence to fade from her.

As they walked further onto the platform, Lily walked ahead with Molly and Arthur. Harry knew she was desperately looking for Ron and Hermione, knowing that Hugo would also be with them, and smiled at how close she was to her cousin. Having a family so close was something he’d missed out on at her age, and seeing her get that… he couldn’t even attempt to describe the happiness he felt. 

Ginny turned to him as they made their way through the crowds of people. “It’s good that mum and dad are here. It’ll be a nice surprise for James, Albus and Rose, they’re not expecting it at all.”

“It was a good idea of yours to invite them along.”

She threw him a look. “I did it for _ you, _you know.”

Eyebrows furrowed, he glanced at her just as Lily let out a shriek, having spotted Ron, Hermione and Hugo, and started running for them. “What do you mean by that?” He watched as Lily reached them, and how Ron scooped her up into a gigantic hug.

“I _ mean _ that I knew you were feeling the pressure today. You’re seeing Albus for the first time in months. But you’re putting on your ‘Harry Potter’ front because we’re at Platform 9 ¾. He’ll be able to see that, and you’ll be distraught because you can’t figure out why. That’s why I invited my parents. So the boys will get the surprise of seeing them and Albus won’t be so distracted by _ you, _Harry.”

Harry had stopped walking, and Ginny had stopped alongside him.

“You did all of that for me?”

Ginny nodded, glancing between him and the rest of their family. “I did. But this is not the time to dwell on that. This is the time to _ be _with that family. Hermione will want to talk to you, and Hugo admires you. Let’s go and wait with the rest of them for the train to come in, all right?”

She went to walk away but Harry caught her wrist before he got too far. Not really feeling like kissing her and causing a show on the platform, he settled for pressing a kiss to her cheek and thanking her softly before she took his hand and led him over to the rest of their family, who greeted the both of them with open arms.

It was only a few minutes later when the Hogwarts Express chugged into the station and to a stop, and the excitement on the Platform was palpable. The second he saw James bounding towards them, already happy to see them, and how his face changed and his smile grew as he saw Molly and Arthur. He barely waited a second before bear hugging Molly. Arthur looked on, grinning.

But Harry only had eyes for Albus – he kept a firm sight on him as he spotted him in the distance, hugging Scorpius goodbye. Nearby, he spotted Draco and was surprised to see that Astoria wasn’t there alongside him like she had been the year before. He turned and glanced at Ginny, noticing that she’d seen the same thing he did, and gave her hand a squeeze, which she returned in thanks.

When, eventually, Albus made his way over to them, the first person he hugged was Ginny. She held him for a few moments and Harry could see the look of joy on her face at having her son back. The love they shared wasn’t even one Harry could envy – it was, instead, one he admired.

He hadn’t expected a hug himself, and he was right in not expecting one. As soon as Albus and Ginny finished hugging, he moved right on to Lily, and then to Molly and Arthur, clearly overjoyed to see them. Lily had returned to Ginny and Harry’s side and leant up against Harry, who rested his hands on her shoulders. 

The thought that he would be back here in two months time saying goodbye to all three of his children… he wondered, briefly, if he could rewind time to when things were different. To when they were… _ easier. _

* * *

** _Wednesday, 26 June 2019._ **

He was late for a meeting at the Ministry, yet Harry took his time in leaving the house. He made sure he had all of his papers from his office, made sure he had the packed lunch that he’d made for himself as soon as he’d gotten up, and then prepared himself to say goodbye to his children as Ginny had already left hours ago.

His mission paused, though, as he hovered in the doorway of the living room and saw the three of them, all sitting on the same couch, leant up against one another, eyes glued to the television in front of them. There was some kind of animated film on TV and they all looked utterly enthralled by it – even James, who often had the smallest attention span of the lot of them. Harry hadn’t seen them like this in years, not since they were little.

If Ginny could see this…

Harry’s smile grew. “I’m off to the Ministry,” he called into the room, not wanting to disturb them too much. “Don’t spend too much time in front of that thing or your mother will be mad… but have a good day. I’m only an owl away if you need something.”

Without moving from his spot on the couch, James yelled back a “Thanks, Dad-Man, have a good day!” and Lily replied with a cheerful “Bye, dad!” Albus settled on a wave.

As Harry left the house, he hoped that this summer would change things between him and Albus. That this summer would bring about the change he’d been hoping for all year. That he and Albus would be able to get over their differences, but most of all, that Harry could learn to be the father that Albus deserved. 


	3. Year Three - In Which Ginny Potter Finds Her Happiness Again

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where September marked the start of a new year at Hogwarts, June marks the end of one. Albus Potter and Scorpius Malfoy, seen through the point of view of family and friends and sometimes themselves, navigate their final months at Hogwarts over their seven years of school and beyond. A sequel/companion piece to Better September.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And chapter three! This one is Ginny POV, easily one of my favourites to write, and I loved writing this chapter because of it. Thank you a bunch for the response on this fic so far and I hope you'll enjoy this new chapter!
> 
> Twitter: @hogwartsahoy

** _Tuesday, 16 July 2019._ **

Dear Ginny,

I truly apologise for not writing as often lately. It’s getting harder and harder to find the strength to write, though I owe you an explanation as to how I’m doing. I wish I could tell you everything in person and that we could meet up for a coffee date again like we used to, but with things as they are nowadays I’m not even leaving the house. Scorpius feels bad enough about leaving to go and see Albus these days and I’ve often had to lie to him in order to get him out of the house and to Albus. He’s going to lose me, that’s a fact, and I don’t want him to be pushing Albus away because of it. He’ll need him when I’m gone. He’ll need him more than ever.

I miss our coffee dates. I miss our little catch ups. I know it’s unlikely I’ll see you again before I go, but know that I treasured those days greatly. Having that friendship, having that comradery, was a true joy in my life, and it was exactly what I needed – finding a like minded person that I could spend time with and truly enjoy myself. Someone who loved their son as much as I loved mine.

I will try my best to write again soon. Please tell me how things are going with you and your summer. I hope James, Albus and Lily are all enjoying their summer and that they’re not too excited to get back to Hogwarts and away from the both of you too soon.

Lots of love, Astoria Malfoy x

* * *

_ **Monday, 1 June 2020.** _

With a sigh, Ginny sat the letter from Astoria back down on her desk. Her head was resting in her hand already, and as her eyes drifted over the last letter she’d ever receive from Astoria, a wave of emotion and loneliness hit her. She hadn’t realised until just recently how much she missed her friend, how much she missed her letters and their coffee dates, and how different and lonely her life had been since then.

She’d had to keep their friendship a secret, but that fact alone changed nothing.

Back in September, she’d attended her funeral with Albus, and it had nearly ruined her. She’d been there as a support system for Albus and Scorpius, but having Albus there had ended up being more of a comfort to her than anything. Draco had no idea that they’d been friends, even now, and Ginny didn’t plan on breaking Astoria’s confidence in sharing that with him – at least not yet, not so soon, not when she could still feel her loss so strongly.

There was a soft knock on the door of her office.

“It’s open, Harry,” she muttered, not bothering to look up.

Harry opened the door and gave her a sad smile. “You all right in here?”

She looked down at the letter again and finally met his eyes before shrugging. Harry knew about the friendship. There wasn’t an awful lot she could keep from him, and their relationship had been very solidly built on honesty over the years. She’d told Astoria about that, too, and Astoria had understood. Ginny had firmly believed that Draco would understand if Astoria chose to reveal their friendship to him, too, but she knew why Astoria had chosen not to, and she wasn’t one to disagree.

“It’s been a very lonely year,” she admitted quietly. “I didn’t think it would be this lonely. With all of the children at Hogwarts, with you at work most days and with a good lot of my work being able to be done from home… not having people around the house, not having people to write to that aren’t my parents or my brothers… I think it’s finally taking its toll on me.”

Harry gave her shoulder a squeeze. He’d clearly spotted the letter on the desk but to Ginny’s appreciation, he hadn’t mentioned it to her, nor had he asked to read it. She was quietly thrilled at that level of confidentiality from him.

“I’m sorry I haven’t been around more,” he spoke truthfully. “And there’s only a few more weeks until James, Albus and Lily will be home for the summer… it’ll go quickly.”

She let out a soft sigh and nodded. “I do hope so, but it just… it feels a bit like school again. Like it did after my first year, when everything happened with Tom Riddle. It feels a bit like I’m just… cast out into the middle of the ocean, but I can’t swim my way back in. And all of you are on the shore and I can’t get to you. I can’t get to anyone.”

Harry moved to crouch down in front of her, hands moving to take hers and hold them as he forced her to look at him, to look into his eyes. “You, Ginny Potter, are the strongest woman I know. And even though it doesn’t feel like it right now, even though it feels like things aren’t going like they should be, even though you feel lonely because you’ve lost Astoria and all of our children are away at school, you are _ not _ alone. You will find your way back to shore. You will, and it’ll happen before you know it.” He squeezed her hands. “Send Hermione an owl. I know she wants to talk to you, and it might be good for the both of you to catch up. It’ll get Hermione out of her office and it’ll get you out of the house. And while she will never be able to replace Astoria, she _ is _your friend. She cares about you, and I know she wouldn’t want you feeling like this.”

Listening to his words, it became clear to her that he was right. And it wasn’t going to change overnight, the loneliness she felt wasn’t just going to disappear at the suggestion of spending time with Hermione out of the house, but it was a start. Harry was right, though. And her children would be back home within the month, and soon the house would be loud again, and it wouldn’t be so lonely and it wouldn’t be so quiet. Even the idea of a chaotic house with her children in it again was one that put a small smile on her face.

Harry smiled up at her. “What do you say, Gin?”

The owl to Hermione was off within the hour.

* * *

  
_ **Sunday, 7 June 2020.** _

The Leaky Cauldron was bustling with wizards and witches, leaving Ginny more than surprised as she hung her jacket over the back of her chair and took a seat across from Minister for Magic, Hermione Granger. It was a Sunday afternoon and she’d expected it to be much less busy than it was. Yet, there were wizards everywhere, and more than one set of eyes on the pair of them – Hermione Granger and Ginny Potter were together, and it seemed that most of the wizarding community was having a field day.

Hermione, as if sensing Ginny’s thoughts, spoke up. “Whatever they’re thinking, don’t let it bother you. We’re just two friends sitting down for lunch and catching up.”

As she took her seat, Ginny nodded. “No, you’re right. I should be used to it at this point, anyway. Harry’s like a magnet when it comes to being looked at. I think it’s part of the reason the kids prefer staying in during the summer, you know?”

“Rose and Hugo prefer staying in because Ron would embarrass them if they left the house,” Hermione smirked, starting to thumb through the menu in front of her.

Ginny chuckled. “Yeah, that sounds about right.”

Much to Ginny’s surprise, Hermione had replied to her owl rather quickly on Monday and the two had started planning a time to go out for lunch almost immediately. Harry had been absolutely thrilled, but with Hermione’s busy schedule at the Ministry and Ginny still having a good amount of work to do for The Daily Prophet, Sunday was the only day they’d been able to get a few hours free at the same time. They were both happy to finally meet up, though, despite the fact that it had taken longer than planned.

She picked up her own menu and began to look at it, but they both settled on ordering their usual. They hadn’t been to The Leaky Cauldron for more than a drink here and then for a good long while, but the menu hadn’t changed much since they were children and they’d spend mornings with her family there before heading to Hogwarts.

“I was surprised when I got your owl,” Hermione admitted after taking a sip of her butterbeer. She looked regal and beautiful today, like she always did – Ginny supposed there always had to be some sort of professionalism about her considering her job. Her purple robes, vibrant and clean, looked a little out of place in the vintage style pub and compared to Ginny’s own teal jumper and jeans, well… it was a noticeable difference. “What made you send it?”

Ginny figured it was best to be honest. “Harry, actually.”

Hermione raised an eyebrow. “Harry?”

She nodded. “I’ve been in a sort of… _ slump, _lately. If you could call it that. With an empty house and with Harry at work all the time, I didn’t expect it to be so lonely. Harry suggested that we meet up, that it’d be good for me to get out of the house and good for you to take a break away from the Ministry.”

Hermione listened carefully as Ginny spoke – it was one of the things she loved the most about Hermione, and she always had. For those she cared about, the ones she loved, she had an endless amount of time for them. She listened intently and she thought deeply and she offered her words with kindness and love. She _ was _Minister for Magic, but she was also sometimes nothing more than a kind, caring and compassionate friend. And she seemed to see that that was what Ginny needed today. Like how Harry sometimes put on his ‘Harry Potter’ front, Hermione had her own front, and she’d whittled it all away today for this lunch. Ginny was more than appreciative.

“I understand that feeling,” Hermione finally said, and Ginny raised an eyebrow.

She hadn’t expected that. She knew that Hermione spent more time in the Ministry than she did in her own house – Ron told her about it all the time, about how he missed her when she was busy at work, and how Hugo often wished his mother was around more often, too. But now that Hugo was off at Hogwarts, just like Lily, she realised Ron must have probably felt as lonely as she did, though he always had the overactive mind to occupy himself with. Hermione, too, though – when Ron was at work when she was home, or even in the quiet of her office.

“I would have thought you’d be too buried in your work to feel that way,” Ginny admitted, a little sheepishly. “And I don’t mean that in an offensive way. I mean that in a way that… I thought you would have buried up that loneliness of Rose and Hugo not being at home with overcompensating at the Ministry.” 

Hermione shrugged a shoulder. “You might be right.” She went quiet for a moment. “You know, when we were younger, when Rose and Hugo were just babies, Ron would talk _ all _the time about how excited he was for the day that they went off to Hogwarts and we got the house to ourselves again. And I used to tell him off for that, but he was right in some ways. We couldn’t see me becoming Minister for Magic in our future. But now he is the one that has the house all to himself.”

Ginny smiled sadly. “You’re making me think you should be back at home with Ron today instead of here at lunch with me. I wouldn’t be entirely mad if you agreed,” she said. “But I do think Harry would have plenty of questions to ask if I came home early.”

Hermione, though, waved a hand. “He’s at work, anyway. No need to bother.”

The two women made small talk over their lunch and when, finally, they’d cleaned their plates and paid for their meals – despite the insistence of the owner wanting them to have their meals for free (“But the Minister for Magic is in _ my _pub! How could I let you pay when it’s my honour to have you here?!”) – they made the last minute decision to venture into Diagon Alley. Hermione didn’t want to go back to the Ministry just yet, and Ginny was happy to spend more time with the woman she didn’t see as much as she would have liked.

The June sun was warm and eyes still followed them as they slowly wandered away from The Leaky Cauldron and down the uneven main street of Diagon Alley, stopping to look in the windows every now and then. Hermione eventually, succumbing to the sun, removed her robes and hung them over an arm as she walked.

“I feel like I haven’t been here in centuries,” she admitted, staring at a set of cauldrons in a shop window. “I tried to get away from the Ministry to take Hugo last August but there just so happened to be a crisis on the same day, so Ron took him.”

She’d heard about it. “Ron did mention that, but you can’t blame yourself. You’re doing the most important job out of all of us, and I’m sure Hugo would have understood.”

Hermione sighed, and then changed the subject as they paused outside Madam Malkin’s and took in some of the brilliant maroon coloured robes in the window. “How are James, Albus and Lily? I haven’t heard much from Harry lately. Are things better between him and Albus?”

Regretfully, Ginny shook her head. “I’m afraid not. They’re still as strained as they always were. Harry really tried over the summer, and I think Albus tried too, but he ended up not really having any of it,” she replied. She hated thinking about it, but it was hard not to when it was almost _ always _what Harry was thinking. “As for James and Lily, I think everything is going well. James is the same as he always has been, and Lily seems to have settled into Hogwarts well. I think she’s looking forward to summer, though.”

“What child _ doesn’t _ look forward to summer?” Hermione offered with a smile. “Albus has always been a little different to James and Lily, though, hasn’t he? He always came across as a boy with a large heart – perhaps a heart _ too _big – even when he was younger, and I don’t think that’s changed very much. But I truly believe that one of these days, his heart will find its place and he and Harry will find common ground of some sort, Ginny.”

They left the window of Madam Malkin’s and continued a slow wander through the alley. Hermione’s words continued to echo around Ginny’s mind and she knew she was right about Albus. He has always had a huge heart, and that wasn’t going to change any time soon. But Ginny didn’t want it to, either – his heart was what made Albus so… so _ Albus. _His heart was just one of the things she loved the most about him.

Her eyes settled on Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes just ahead of them and she smiled. “What about your two, then? Rose and Hugo? How are _ they _settling? Ron always sends owls to Harry and I and talks about how proud he is of them.”

Hermione’s smile was warm and it was clear she was just as proud of them as Ron was. She started to steer them towards Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes without even realising, and Ginny didn’t bother to protest. “Rose and Hugo are doing wonderfully. Professor McGonagall says that Rose is thriving, that she’s doing well in all of her lessons and she’s very impressed with how much time she’s dedicating to the Quidditch team. Hugo seems to be enjoying Hogwarts like his father – his last letter was almost _ entirely _ about the food, which Ron loved. And his favourite lesson is Charms, which Ron was disappointed about, but that thrills me. He’s going to turn out _ exactly _like this father, though, I think.”

While she was still speaking, they’d reached the shop and had started to wander up the steps. Smiling, Ginny had opened the door and Hermione had wandered right in. She hadn’t even realised that Ron had been standing by the door re-stocking a shelf full of something in a ghastly green coloured box until Ron himself had spoken.

“Who’s going to turn out exactly like their father?”

Hermione spun around, and Ginny watched on, amused.

“Ron!”

Ron looked at her, wide-eyed and desperately tried to hold in his laughter. “Hermione!” His smile slowly made its way onto his face. “What are you doing here? You never visit… that sounded mean. I’m just surprised, I suppose.”

She twisted around to look at Ginny, beckoning her forward. “I was at The Leaky Cauldron with Ginny, having lunch. I suppose I just decided to… unwittingly pay you a visit. The place is looking really great. I haven’t seen it in a very long time.”

His smile grew into something dorky and cheesy, and then he was kissing her and Ginny was screwing up her nose and slightly regretting the choice to come inside. “All right, I think I should leave you to it… I love you, both of you, but not _ that _much.”

Hermione pulled away from the kiss and turned to Ginny with an apologetic look. She was about to say something when an arm wrapped around Ginny’s shoulders and pulled her into the side of someone much taller than her – looking up, she grinned as she saw her older brother. 

“I couldn’t let you leave without saying hello to your favourite brother, could I?” George hummed. “What brings you into our humble shop on this lovely, sunny Sunday afternoon? To what do we owe the pleasure?”

She looked around at the three of them – first up at George, at his contagious smile and the face that she’d missed so much lately, then at Hermione, the woman she was grateful to call a friend– a _ sister, _ even, and then at Ron and his _ hideous _jumper, but his charming nature. She was filled almost instantly with a feeling she hadn’t felt for a long time – the polar opposite of loneliness, the happiness and the joy and the laughter and the smiles she’d been missing all this time while her children were off at Hogwarts.

Harry had known exactly what would cheer her up, even a little. He’d known that family, no matter what sort of family it was, whether it was her sister-in-law or whether it was Ron and George, her blood relations, it would fill at least some of the void inside her that losing Astoria and missing her children had created. Ginny knew it could never be filled entirely, but this moment was enough for now, and she was grateful.

“What brings me into your shop?” She hummed, looking up at George again. “I just missed my family. That’s a good excuse, isn’t it?”

George smiled and squeezed her tight. “Best excuse of them all, in my opinion.”

* * *

_ **Wednesday, 10 June 2020.** _

Mum,

I know what James meant about exams being the worst part of Hogwarts and I am now more excited for the end of them because he seems to think that they are the best part. Also, he said that if I pass my exams that he will buy me a Pygmy Puff for next year… so I hope I pass. 

But I have been studying so much for my exams. James and Albus have always passed their exams, or _ most _of them, and I am worried that if I fail mine I’ll be known as ‘the Potter that failed her first year exams’. And James said that dad wasn’t the best at school and he focused on saving the world most of the time but I still don’t want to fail.

I really like Gryffindor, and the common room is really nice. I spend a lot of time with Rose and Hugo in there. I told Albus the other day that he can come up and visit us when he wants but he said that he likes the Slytherin common room better which is sad. He doesn’t talk to us much anymore. James has to find him if he wants to talk and even then James says it’s hard. I miss him.

I hope he will be better when we’re all back home for the summer. Not long now!

Love Lily xx

* * *

Lovely Lily,

No matter how you do in your exams, I will always be proud of you and what a wonderful young woman you’re growing up to be. And even if you _ do _fail your exams (which you won’t because I know how clever you are), your dad and I will buy you a Pygmy Puff for next year. 

Don’t let Albus worry you. He’s just going through something right now and he will be alright eventually. But he wouldn’t want you to stress so much about him that you forget to study for your exams, would he?

Your dad and I will see you very soon.

Love Mum xx

* * *

  
_ **Saturday, 13 June 2020.** _

Molly Weasley sat two cups of tea down on the kitchen table of The Burrow and took a seat opposite her daughter and her son-in-law. For Ginny, The Burrow still felt like home. It was still the cosiest, happiest place on earth, even with all of the windows open and birds chirping outside, and with a warm breeze floating throughout the house every now and then. A plate of some sort of chocolate slice sat in front of them and Harry, at Molly’s suggestion, had dug in nearly as soon as they’d sat down.

She turned to her daughter. “The two of you _ really _should visit more.”

With a smile and a small laugh, Ginny nodded. She entirely agreed, but with work, catching up with her parents wasn’t as easy as it once was. And she comforted herself throughout the year with the fact that once summer came, they’d be spending more time at The Burrow than they did at their own home – or, at least, the children would.

The door to the kitchen creaked open and all three of them turned to look as Arthur wandered in, just back from feeding the chickens. He huffed. “We _ really _need to get some of the kids around to de-gnome that garden soon, Molly.”

She cleared her throat and he turned to look at them.

“Oh, hello!” His smile grew and he wandered over to the table. “When did you get here?”

Molly frowned, clearly not thrilled with his less than pleasant greeting, and Ginny noticed. She jumped in to save her father from what she assumed would be some sort of disagreement between the two of them.

“Not long, ten minutes, maybe? We actually came around to deliver _ these _ …” She picked up her bag from the ground next to her and accio’ed five letters, all addressed to ‘Grandma Molly and Grandpa Arthur’. “James sent these with his last letter. From just a _ few _of your doting grandchildren.”

As expected, Molly’s smile brightened and she reached for the letters. Arthur rounded the table and took a seat in the spare one next to Molly, eyes wide with excitement as he looked at the letters in Molly’s hands. She took the one from the top and started to open it, and as she read it Ginny watched with a smile.

James had explained what the letters were in his own letter to them, and both her and Harry had found it rather amusing that they’d gone to such lengths, especially during exam season, but they’d promised to pass them on nonetheless – promises from James, Albus, Lily, Rose and Hugo that they would de-gnome the garden as soon as they got back from Hogwarts in exchange for being able to use a few of the spare bedrooms at The Burrow _ and _the extensive garden to hold a mini Quidditch tournament over the summer.

While reading the second letter, and while Arthur read the first, Molly paused. She furrowed her eyebrows and looked down at the paper before looking up at Ginny and Harry.

“This Scorpius Malfoy that Albus is friends with – is he a nice boy?”

Ginny nodded enthusiastically. “You would barely know he was a Malfoy at all if it wasn’t for the blond hair and his father. His mother was – well, she was a lovely woman. He got much of his kindness from her, I believe.”

Much to her surprise, Molly smiled sadly. “Yes, I did hear about his mother.”

“Why do you ask about Scorpius?” Harry suddenly spoke.

“Well, he’s written about him in the letter – asked if Scorpius would be welcome to come over and join in with this Quidditch tournament they want to run. That they want to be the scorers together because Albus can’t fly very well and that he thinks it would be nice for him to have some time out with friends, away from Malfoy Manor,” Molly explained, nearly reading exactly from the letter.

Harry didn’t ask to read the letter, Ginny noticed, and supposed that he was just attempting to allow Albus to keep his private letters private – and rightfully so. This was, after all, a letter to his grandparents, not his father, and Ginny had a feeling that if Albus ever found out about Harry reading it, the void between them would become even worse.

There was clear surprise in both of them, though – Ginny and Harry really hadn’t expected Albus to ask Molly and Arthur about Scorpius visiting The Burrow, but Ginny desperately hoped that her mother wouldn’t have a problem with it. Times were different now, and the world wasn’t so dangerous, and she was certain that there was nothing to fear when it came to Scorpius.

“And what do you think?” Ginny quietly inquired.

Molly met her eyes. “I _ think _that I am not one to keep apart my grandson and his best friend, especially when he has so kindly asked. And like you said - he’s kind. Albus seems to like him, they’ve been friends for years now, and I trust his judgment. Don’t you?”

Harry and Ginny shared a look, a look that said almost everything that they were thinking, and Ginny felt more than proud when Harry, entirely confidently, nodded and said _ yes. _

* * *

_ **Monday, 15 June 2020** _

James,

I hope all is going well in your studies and your exams. I’m just writing to ask if you are free to take a break from studying next weekend – your father isn’t very fond of the idea considering you _ are _in the middle of your O.W.L exams but I’d very much like to come to Hogsmeade and spend a day with you. I know how stressful this time of year can be for you, so if you’re willing to take a small break I would love to see you. Please extend the invitation to Albus, as well. Lily has already said she’d rather study for that weekend.

Love Mum.

* * *

Hi Mum,

I think I’m going to join Lily in deciding to study this weekend. James told me about your letter. But I hope you have a good day with James on Saturday and I will see you next week anyway. 

Miss you loads.

Love Albus.

* * *

_ **Saturday, 20 June 2020.** _

Hogsmeade had been a place Ginny had rather loved during her time at Hogwarts. Ever since she’d been allowed to go she’d made the trip with her classmates and friends as much as she could, and she held very vivid memories of her fifth year with Dean Thomas there, though the fact that she was visiting it now with her first-born son of the man she was utterly and entirely, soul-consumingly in love with was a strange sort of coincidence. 

James had shed his Gryffindor uniform and, instead, worn a dark blue button down shirt and jeans – the sort of clothes he would wear in the muggle world and, in his opinion, much more comfortable than the Hogwarts trousers which he often complained about being ‘itchy’. He was rather annoyed by the fact that he had to wear them for exams.

As they left the Hogsmeade branch of Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes (a store that Ron and George had created a few years after the Battle of Hogwarts, in place of Zonkos _ and _ a place that Ron had asked Ginny to check up on when he’d heard about her impending visit), James held a bag full of treats and toys that Ginny just knew he was going to have a blast with when he eventually returned to Hogwarts. She just hoped he wasn’t going to cause _ too much _chaos, though that wish probably wasn’t well founded considering it was James.

“Albus is gonna be _ so _mad he didn’t come if he finds out about all of this,” he motioned to the bag. “I should have tried harder to convince him to come with us.”

Ginny frowned. “What do you mean _ if _he finds out?”

Caught out, James gave an awkward chuckle. “He hasn’t spoken to me much lately. I keep trying, but he’s always busy with Scorpius or says he’s really busy studying. I doubt he’ll find out about all of this unless I actually tell him about it. He got a detention the other week, you know? He talked back to the Potions Professor.”

And Ginny stopped in her tracks.

“He got a _ detention _and didn’t even send us an owl?”

James held up his hands in surrender. “I know, I should have told you – I’m sorry.”

She fixed him with a look. “_You, _ James Sirius, should not be and _ are _not responsible for informing us of your brothers every move. You know that? Don’t feel bad about not keeping us up to date, especially when you’re in the middle of your O.W.L. exams. You have more important things to worry about.”

He smiled at her sheepishly. “I just feel bad sometimes… you’re his parents, you should know what’s going on. I tell you guys nearly everything. But I don’t want to break his trust, either. Not that he has much trust in me lately, anyway.”

Ginny turned to face him and placed her hands on his shoulders. “There are some things, James,” she began, “that Albus is just going to have to learn to tell us on his own. And if those things are things he’s not willing to share right now, there’s nothing any of us can do about that. Her voice was commandeering and strong as she spoke to him, but it held hints of her usual softness when she was around her children. “He’s your brother, James. He’ll always have trust in you. And _ yes, _that trust will waver. You’re talking to a mother who grew up with several brothers, here. But the two of you will come out stronger on the other side.”

She felt very confident about that simple fact – she and her brothers had difficulties growing up, every set of siblings did, she figured. And James, Albus and Lily were no different, even if she and Harry sometimes wished they were in that sense.

With another smile, she wrapped an arm around her son’s shoulders – he was getting taller by the day and soon enough he was undoubtedly going to be towering over her, so she was making the most of it while she could. “_Now, _let’s go and raid Honeydukes…”

“_You _ raiding _ Honeydukes?_” James raised an eyebrow.

“Uh-huh,” Ginny hummed. “I need some of that nostalgia from my Hogwarts days – being back here in Hogsmeade is making me miss it, the study and the hustle and bustle of it all. _ And _coming here on weekends and stocking up with as many sweets as I could get with the little money I had.”

James screwed up his nose. “How could you miss the _ study_?” He shook his head, looking a little disgusted. But then his look changed and his smile, the smile that very nearly never left his face, disappeared as he looked up at his mother. “I am a little afraid to leave, though. I think I might miss it then… not the study, but just… the castle, the place, the people. I think I’ll miss that.”

She held him tightly. “Hey, if you get in Professor McGonagall’s good books she might let you come back for sleepovers in a few years time.” Her words weren’t entirely a joke, and James laughed at them – _ success! _ “Now, come on, we’re getting sweets. _ And _we’re getting some for Al, Lily and Scorpius, too. And you’re not going to eat them on the way home, are you?”

“Who do you think I am?” He looked at her, unimpressed.

“Ronald Weasley’s nephew.” She fired back.

James smirked. “Touché.”

* * *

_ **Tuesday, 23 June 2020.** _

Mum,

I hope things are going well at home and that you don’t miss us too much. I miss you. I think my exams are going all right even though I’ve only done two so far… I have been studying more this year, though, so Scorpius thinks I will get better marks in the ones I didn’t do too well in last year and I hope he’s right.

Speaking of Scorpius, this letter is mostly about him: can he spend more time with us this summer? He keeps saying how worried he is about being home alone with his dad all summer now that his mother is gone and that he thinks it will be awkward. I already asked grandma about him coming over to The Burrow in the letters we sent earlier this month and she replied and said yes, but I just thought I should ask you, too.

Love Albus.

* * *

Albus,

I’m glad to hear you’re feeling so confident about your exams. Pass my good luck onto Scorpius too, will you? As for Scorpius, I don’t see how that would be a problem. He’s welcome any time during the summer. And I’m glad to hear that he’s going to visit The Burrow this summer. I think your grandmother will love to finally meet the boy you talk so highly about every summer.

Looking forward to seeing you this weekend.

Love Mum xx

* * *

_ **Saturday, 27 June 2020.** _

“You could be a little less obvious with your excitement, Gin,” Harry smirked, nudging her with an elbow as they neared the barrier to Platform 9 ¾. They were running a little late, much to Ginny’s dismay – the traffic had been particularly busy this Saturday and now they were rushing to get there on time.

She threw him a look. “What? I’m excited. And the train is due any minute. I’m only half running because I don’t want them to get off the train and not be able to find us anywhere. It’s been a long year without them, Harry.”

He chuckled and stayed by her side as they passed by a large group of Muggles and disappeared swiftly through the barrier. The second they reached the other side Ginny noticed the Hogwarts Express pulling into the station, and her feet began to move quicker.

It was an accident, how they ended up standing directly next to Draco Malfoy.

She felt sad for him. It must be hard, waiting for his son without Astoria by his side. Though it wasn’t the first time he’d done it, and Ginny vividly remembered how she hadn’t been there last June either, she couldn’t help it. She hoped that Scorpius’ summer wouldn’t be too awkward with him and truly hoped that he would take up the opportunity to spend a few days here and there at the Potter household. She’d sent him a letter about it just after Astoria had died, extending the same offer for Christmas break, but the letter had practically been thrown back in her face, and she understood that. He’d lost a wife, and she’d once lost a brother. The mourning was nearly the worst part of it - when you tortured yourself on a daily basis, imagining what life would be like if they were still in it.

“Should I say something to him?” Ginny muttered to Harry, leaning in close to him. He’d weaved an arm around her waist soon after they’d stopped to wait for their children.

Harry glanced over at Draco who was staring firmly at the train. “I don’t know, I don’t think he much wants to be disturbed.”

With a sigh, Ginny nodded. Harry was right – he didn't look like he wanted to be disturbed. He had always had that air about him, and there was a reason why the families waiting for their children just like he was weren’t standing too close to him.

The doors of the train opened and students began to pour out. She smiled as she watched on, seeing the joy in all of their faces – it was a beautiful sight, and the fact that only in a few minutes time she would be greeting her own children made it all the more beautiful.

She spotted Lily in the distance, her reddish hair easily visible as she hugged goodbye to a few other girls who looked around her age. Her smile only grew as she finally turned and started to seek out her parents. The second she caught sight of Harry, she took off running and moments later Harry had wrapped his arms around her, picked her up and spun her around. Her laughter was effervescent and her delight was clear on her face.

“Hello, you,” Harry laughed as he set her back down on the ground. She immediately moved to wrap her arms around Ginny, who happily hugged her back. “How was the journey?”

She huffed. “It was _ long. _I’m glad to be home. Almost.”

Ginny turned to scan the platform for her sons, though what she saw instead was Draco Malfoy looking at their family, noticing how Lily seemed so thrilled to be home, taking in the hugs that she’d given both of her parents. She met his eyes and gave him a small, sad smile, and was surprised to see that he reciprocated it.

Before she could do much else, another pair of arms wrapped around her waist and she looked down to see – _ Albus. _He was hugging her tightly, as if he never wanted to let her go again, and she held him back the same. It had been much too long since they’d hugged, especially like this, and she realised how much she missed him. More than she thought she had. And if Albus was here, Scorpius wouldn’t be far away either. She took comfort in that.

“Well, hello,” she smiled. “Missed me, did you?”

He pulled away from the hug and looked up at her, and she saw the look of mischief cross his face before he spoke a cheeky “Nah,” and then changed his mind with a “... _ yeah._”

She pulled him close for another hug, “Happy to be home?”

Albus shrugged a shoulder and pulled away again. He smiled down at Lily who was happily standing next to Harry and telling him _ all _about the train journey home. Ginny could see in his face that he was jealous of that relationship in more ways than one. 

She heard James before she saw him – yelling out a _ very _loud “I’m baaaaaack!”

Harry chuckled and glanced over at Ginny just as James passed through a group of people in front of them and wandered up towards them. Much to his dismay, Ginny pulled him into a hug that he didn’t entirely want to be a part of, and Harry clapped a hand onto his shoulder. He shuddered as he pulled away from them. 

“I’m _ technically _a sixth year now. I can’t be seen hugging my parents.”

Ginny raised an eyebrow. “You didn’t say that last week when you hugged me goodbye in Hogsmeade. You were more than happy to hug me goodbye. That _ was _only a week ago, you know?” She flashed him a cheeky smile.

His cheeks flushed slightly. “Well, that was a different time. I was a _ boy. _ Now I’m a man.”

Harry stifled a snort. “Come on, let’s go get your luggage and then–”

Someone cleared their throat and the group of them turned to look. Scorpius Malfoy, and his father stood behind him, was stood near Harry. Scorpius smiled around at the five of them.

“Hello, um– ah,” he started. “I just wanted to thank you.”

“Thank us?” Ginny asked softly. 

Scorpius nodded, and then glanced up at his father who nodded once at him before he turned back around to look at them. “For offering to let me spend time with you over the summer at your house – and to Albus’ grandmother for letting me visit The Burrow, too.”

He reminded him so much of Astoria, but also so much of Albus. The three of them, they were one in the same, and if Astoria had been able to spend more time around Albus she had a feeling that she would have agreed with her. Where Albus had a big heart, Scorpius had one equally as big. He was kind, and he was caring and he was _ exactly _the friend Ginny had hoped Albus would one day grow up to make.

“That’s absolutely not a problem, Scorpius. We’re looking forward to having you.”

He responded with a kind smile. “Well… I’ll see you later this summer… I’ll send you a few owls like usual.” He looked over and met Albus’ eyes. “See you soon, Albus.”

And with that, he and Draco disappeared off into the crowd. 

Ginny turned and wrapped an arm around Albus’ shoulders. “Should we go and get your luggage and then head home? Make some dinner, relax for the night?” She looked down at him, and then at James and Lily.

Lily nodded enthusiastically, and Albus offered Ginny a smile, and the five of them walked off to the train to get the rest of their luggage, and so their summer began.


	4. Year Four - In Which James Potter Loves His Family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where September marked the start of a new year at Hogwarts, June marks the end of one. Albus Potter and Scorpius Malfoy, seen through the point of view of family and friends and sometimes themselves, navigate their final months at Hogwarts over their seven years of school and beyond. A sequel/companion piece to Better September.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Long time, no see! Apologies for the long wait since the last update! I've been in the biggest writing slump. This James chapter has been sitting on my laptop since November, and I'm finally getting around to posting it and getting back into writing! I hope you wholeheartedly enjoy this chapter and enjoy the rest of this story now that I'm back to writing and posting it!

** _Tuesday, 1 June 2021._ **

James Potter felt a little bit like he was going to absolutely collapse. His arms were laden with books from the library and he was determined to spend his free period after lunch actually doing some studying – he’d been busted by one of the Professor’s in his first free period not studying and, though he hadn’t admitted it, he was embarrassed. He was a N.E.W.T student now. He had to show at least a little initiative even though he _was _known among Hogwarts for being a bit of a joker, just like his Uncle George. 

The Great Hall was busy with students eating lunch between periods, and many of them jumped out of the way as James walked through the large double doors and down towards the Gryffindor table. His eyes scanned the Slytherin table as he made his way in, spotting his brother and Scorpius Malfoy sitting together. He smiled at the sight.

“Right, Lils,” he huffed, sitting the books down on the bench beside her. “Would you watch these for a second? Make sure that nobody steals them. I have to talk to Al.”

His little sister looked up at him with a raised eyebrow. She was sitting with Hugo who looked on at the siblings, amused – his relationship with Rose was _very _different. “Is this one of those ‘brothers only’ talks that I can’t participate in?”

James smirked. “I’m afraid so, little sis.” He turned on his heel and walked away.

“Stop calling me that!” She yelled in reply.

He met the eyes of a Ravenclaw fourth year who passed him, looking strangely between him and Lily, and flashed him a grin. “Little sisters, am I right?” 

If it wasn’t a well known fact among the students of Hogwarts that James Potter would do absolutely _anything _for his brother and sister, the Ravenclaw might have believed him. _Might _being the key word.

Albus looked up at him as he reached their table.

It had been a long few months for all of the Potter siblings – and Scorpius by extension. After everything that had happened at the start of Albus and Scorpius’ fourth year, the Potter family had pretty much adopted him into the family unofficially. It had been tough for Albus _and _for Scorpius, but it had been tough for all of them. For Harry, and Ginny _and _James and Lily. They’d heard of a world in which none of them existed and that had torn them apart, and then realising that world had been born of their brother feeling unloved and unwelcome? Realising that Albus had felt so lonely in his own family that he’d resorted to... to _that? _It had been one of the worst moments in James’ life, when he’d heard.

He’d spoken to Albus about it before, since he got back, and they’d had a rather lengthy heart to heart over the Christmas break, but there were still unsaid words between them, and James hoped that one day Albus would have the courage and confidence to say them, no matter how long it took.

He reached the Slytherin table. 

“What do you want, James?”

Clearly, that day wasn’t today.

James took a seat beside him, knowing he looked very out of place with the other Slytherin students, but he didn’t really care. Potter’s didn’t belong in Slytherin, yes, but _Albus _did, and James had never felt out of place when visiting him at the table since. He smiled warmly at Albus and Scorpius and noticed, briefly, that Albus was holding his wand and running his fingers over the raised cherry buds on the end of it.

“I just want to talk,” he admitted carefully. “I can do that, right?”

He watched as Albus stared at him, a look of confusion mixed with his thinking, before he nodded. “What do you want to talk about? Can Scorpius be here for it?”

“Uh-huh,” James said. He had no qualms about Scorpius Malfoy, and he had a feeling that Albus would just start to shut down if he asked Scorpius to give them a moment alone, anyway. They were joined at the hip, and they had been for a while. “So, then…” he started, “it’s been nine months since you two ditched Hogwarts and went off to… do what you did.” 

James figured it was best not to mention specific moments. He knew Albus was having nightmares of those days anyway, and he didn’t need the reminder. And he didn’t really want to give them to himself, either – a world in which his brother didn’t exist was a world that terrified him, and he still often thought about the fact that Albus had felt like he couldn’t talk to him back then, and some days he still felt that.

“And?” Albus pressed, though he wasn’t forceful in his words.

“_And_,” James continued, throwing him a look. “I know it’s been tough for you. For the _both _of you. We had that talk over Christmas when I said that you could talk to me about anything, but it’s been a few months and… Albus, I feel like I’ve barely seen you. Where have you been? I know you don’t _want _to talk all the time but… it’d really set my mind at rest if you did at least give it a go when you felt comfortable.”

He watched the look on Albus’ face change into one of understanding. 

“I’m not doing it on purpose, James,” his voice was quiet as he spoke, and James nearly asked him to speak up before he realised that he was talking quietly for a reason – a few other Slytherin students on the opposite side of the table, a few seats down, had started to look at them. James threw them a glare as Albus continued. “I just… I think I have everything I need right now. I have Scorpius, and I have lessons to keep me occupied, and I have mum and dad writing to me every other day.”

Keeping one eye on the eavesdroppers and the other on Albus, James nodded. “I know you do, but you have me, too. _And _Lily. We care about you just as much as Scorpius and mum and dad. I’d really like you to know that, and I know Lily feels the same way.”

Albus sighed and continued rubbing the cherry buds on his wand. 

“This all goes for you, too, Scorpius,” James looked at him, sitting beside Albus and watching him carefully. “I know we don’t speak much, but I do have ears that listen well… and Lily, well, you know she bloody adores you, right?”

With a smile, Scorpius nodded. “I know, and I thank you.”

James placed a hand on Albus’ shoulder and gave it a squeeze. “Keep it in mind, yeah?” And with that, he stood up from the table and began to walk back to the Gryffindor table, but not before stopping by the eavesdropping Slytherin’s and fixing them with another glare. “I’d suggest you three keep your ears to yourself, or you might just find yourselves victim to a bit of the Bat-Bogey Hex _or _a bit of leg-locking. How does that sound?”

They shrunk under his gaze and he smiled at Albus and Scorpius as he left them and returned to the Gryffindor table, only hoping that both of the boys would take him up on his word. That was all he had left. 

* * *

** _Sunday, 6 June 2021._ **

“Dad,” Albus began as they started to walk through Hogsmeade, an ice-cream in his hand. With summer right around the corner, Honeydukes had created a variety of different flavours to sell on the weekends, and Harry had insisted, even though they were still _technically _off sugar – Harry said they deserved it after the year that they’d all endured. “Why didn’t you invite Lily?”

James, beside him, snorted. It had been a few weeks ago now that Harry sent them both letters and asked if they’d like to join him for an afternoon in Hogsmeade, and both of the boys had said yes. Albus had come to James to ask if it would be a good idea for him and James had said it would be, and Albus had taken him at his word. They hadn’t heard from Lily about it, though. He had a feeling that Lily wasn’t purposefully being left out – because James knew his father well, and he knew that he’d never do something _that _terrible to his only daughter, and honestly, Lily wouldn’t let him.

With furrowed eyebrows, Harry turned to Albus. “Al, _really_?” He seemed to sense that his attitude leant towards something unkind and corrected himself. “I invited her, but she said she thought it might be nice for the three of us to go together. Like… a boy's day.”

“She’s a smart one, that kid,” James nudged his father, nearly spilling his chocolate ice-cream in the process. He cringed. He knew if he spilled or dropped it, Harry would never go for buying him another one, hence his protectiveness. He licked up a spill on the side of the cone and instantly felt like he was a child again, not a sixteen year old boy – he hadn’t had ice-cream like this in a long, _long _while. 

Albus seemed to shrink in on himself, ignoring James. “Oh. Sorry.”

Harry clapped a hand on his shoulder. “Hey, don’t be,” he assured him. 

It had been easy for James to see the tension between Albus and his father growing up. It had always been there, and the older Albus got, the worse the tension got. He still remembered the night before Albus’ fourth year, months ago now, when Harry had yelled something James never wanted to hear again. He thought about it a lot, about how Albus must think about it, and about how bad he felt for not being able to comfort Albus like he wanted to that night. Albus had slept in his bed, and James had taken the floor, but they hadn’t spoken. He’d said it was enough, offering the bed, but James still doubted that.

When it came to things like that, was offering a bed to sleep on _really _enough?

He had to believe it was.

In an attempt to change the topic and lighten the mood, James held up the bag of sweets that he’d stocked up on in Honeydukes, a grin on his face. “_Anyway, _Lily will be just fine when she sees all of these sweets. I fully intend to share them with her, just like you’re undoubtedly going to share yours with Scorpius, aren’t you?”

Albus nodded on, predictable as ever. “Well, _yeah._”

Harry smiled. It clearly meant a lot to him to see his sons this way. “So, you two are going well? You’ve settled back into life at Hogwarts okay? And you’re ready for your exams? Scorpius isn’t too stressed? His father is worried.”

“Steady on there, dad,” James laughed. “Twenty questions, hey!” He nudged Albus, who actually surprisingly smiled up at him. He could tell that Albus was a bit uncomfortable to be with just his father and James for the day, and James was on a mission to make sure that he actually enjoyed the day and didn’t feel insanely awkward the entire time. It was what Albus needed _and _deserved. After all, this was his family, and things were still fresh, but they loved each other, and James desperately wanted Albus to know that. 

And just in general, after everything that had happened, Albus had been quieter. He’d spoken to James only a little over the past few months and especially less at school – at home it was easier. Scorpius wasn’t around and when their parents were at work, Albus had no choice but to confide in his siblings. But his silence at school was why James had come up to him earlier in the week and prompted an actual conversation. He missed his brother, and even though his brother had always been the quieter, softer and much more gentle Potter and not much had changed in _that _aspect, James still saw subtle differences.

He wrapped an arm around Albus’ shoulders as they stopped outside Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes and took in the _very _fancy looking window display. Ron and George would _love _it. “You all right?” His voice was quiet and he didn’t want his father to overhear.

Albus nodded his head once. “It’s weird… being here and all… but I like it.”

James’ smile grew and he glanced at their dad. “I think he’d like to hear that.”

“I think he would, too,” he hummed. 

Taking in his brother’s lead, Albus turned away from James and wandered over to Harry. James watched as he stopped beside him and started looking at something in the window, and he listened carefully as Albus finally spoke, the window display entirely forgotten. 

“Thanks for inviting us today,” he spoke, voice soft. There was still an edge to Albus that was particularly anxious around his father, as if he didn’t want to overstep. And he was getting better, but it was going to take time. “Thanks for inviting _me _today.”

Harry smiled as he looked down at his son. “I thought it might be a good idea for us. For _all _of us, not just you and me. For James as well,” he met James’ eyes. “We haven’t had a day like this in a while, where it was just us boys. I think it’s well overdue.”

“It was a good idea,” Albus nodded, and then glanced over at James. “I just wanted to say… I’m having a really nice time with you. We’ve never really done… _this _sort of thing before, like you said. Nothing I can really remember, anyway. But… I really like it. We should do it more often… and with mum and Lily, too.”

James could have sworn he’d never see his father smile so proudly.

He wrapped an arm around Albus shoulder and pulled him into his side for a small hug before nodding. “Yeah, I think that would be nice. Maybe this summer – I’ll take a few days off work, your mum can, too, and we can go out as a family.”

It was surprising, James noted, to see both his father _and _Albus actually excited about going out as a family. They’d done it plenty when he was younger, but not recently simply because of how many other wizards seemed to watch them whenever they left the house. But to James, it didn’t matter – whether they were going to spend a day in Diagon Alley or venture out into the Muggle world, he was excited. He was excited that Albus and his father were getting along, that this day was going well, that they had plans to actually spend time as a family for one of the only times in James’ teenage life. 

He wandered over to them and grinned at Albus. 

Proud of his brother? No, that didn’t even cover it.

* * *

** _Tuesday, 8 June 2021._ **

Mum,

I said that I’d write to you and tell you how Albus was feeling about that day out with me and dad in Hogsmeade on Sunday, but I got caught up in school work and classes yesterday and never got a chance. Hope you haven’t been losing your mind over my lack of letter. _Please _tell me I’m still your favourite child. 

_Anyway, _for what you really wanna hear: Albus is all right, I’m pretty sure. He seemed really happy when we got back to Hogwarts and I think he was surprised by how much he enjoyed the day – I was really surprised by it, too. Thought for a bit there that it was just going to be me in between dad and Al being awkward around each other, but it really wasn’t anything like that. 

It was a really nice surprise.

Did dad enjoy himself? He said he did when he left. I hope he did.

And I hope you enjoyed the Bertie Bott’s I bought for you and sent back with dad. I know, I know, you’re still trying to not eat sugar. But come on, mum, how can _anyone _turn down Bertie Bott’s!? Unless you get a gross flavour. Then you can, I guess. And after the year we’ve all had… I think some sweets might be nice.

Hope this letter covered what you wanted to hear! Miss you loads.

James xx

* * *

** _Friday, 11 June 2021._ **

He didn’t particularly care that he was laughing too loud, because the joke that Luke Goldstein had just told was _too _good not to laugh at. He clutched his chest as he leant backwards into the aisle between tables in The Great Hall, and barely stifled a snort.

Grinning beside him, Luke grabbed his arm so he didn’t fall. “Was it that funny?”

They were going to be late to class, and even though James was _still _laughing, he stood himself up, grabbed his shoulder bag, and nodded down at Luke, who stood up, too.

James playfully rolled his eyes. “Nah, I’m just laughing cause it was _shit._”

The two boys started to walk out of The Great Hall together, still laughing at his jokes and at the aftermath of James nearly falling right back into the aisle because he’d been laughing so hard. If people were staring at them, James didn’t notice. He was too wrapped up in his own little bubble to care, and it was only when they reached the Charms classroom with two minutes to spare that he came out of it, because Professor Longbottom – or _Neville, _as he liked for his family friends to call him when he was out of class – was standing just outside the door, and he perked up at the sight of him.

“James Potter – just the person I was looking for,” he smiled and stood up straighter. 

With a small laugh, James bowed at Neville and Luke watched on, confused. “I’m actually going to be late to class, Professor Longbottom,” he spoke the _proper _name for Luke’s sake, “so I don’t have time to talk. Can we catch up later?”

Neville waved a hand. “I just had a talk to your professor, she’s giving you a few minutes, if that’s alright with you? This is just the only spare minute I have in my day, that’s all. Busy with classes all afternoon, and I have marking to do tonight.”

He appreciated having Neville at Hogwarts with them. He’d grown up with Neville in his life, and he was even Albus’ godfather. And even though he didn’t spend as much time with the rest of the family as everyone would have liked him to, James still considered him a part of the family and always looked forward to seeing him in Herbology lessons. 

This, though, had him confused.

He raised an eyebrow. “Well, if you insist…” James shrugged. “You head on in, Luke. I’ll be in there in a second. Gotta have someone to take some notes for me, don’t I?”

Luke flashed him a grin before leaving him and Neville alone. 

“So, what’s up?”

Neville furrowed his eyebrows briefly at James’ remark and then began. It didn’t escape James’ notice that he looked particularly worried to talk, though that wasn’t at all out of character for Neville – he’d been a shy and worrisome child, he knew that much. And some of that had to carry over into adulthood, but not all of it. Sometimes, the ‘Hey, I’m Neville Longbottom and I killed a snake that helped kill Voldemort, _BAM_’ part came out much more. 

He toed the ground. “I’m actually here to ask about Albus– and I know you must be sick of being asked that, but I have a feeling he won’t really admit anything truthful to me if I ask him directly. He’ll likely just think your parents got me to ask on their behalf.”

“Yeah, probably better to go through me,” James agreed. Even though Neville _was _Albus’ godfather, that didn’t mean he felt comfortable to share everything with him. Hell, James was his own brother and it was the same way. “I think he’s coping well, though. I mean… as well as he can when he’s got all of the memories running through his head. And they’re all still so fresh, you know? I think he struggles to escape them sometimes.”

Neville huffed a laugh. “I understand that _perfectly._” He met James’ eyes. “I had nightmares for years after The Battle of Hogwarts. We won, but my mind kept tricking me into thinking we didn’t, and I’d wake up in a sweat most nights, thinking of a world where we hadn’t won. Where more people had died.” He shuddered at the thought of it.

James offered him a sympathetic smile, but then an idea sprung in his mind. “You know what? I think that could actually be useful,” he stepped closer to Neville, his light-bulb moment overcoming him. “Sometimes, I think Albus struggles with the fact that the only other person who _really _knows what he went through is Scorpius. And while you didn’t go through the same things, you both suffered extreme trauma at the hands of evil wizards. I said before that it’s probably better that you go through me, but I might be wrong – I think, if you talked to Albus, if you brought up these nightmares, if you helped him understand that you eventually moved past at least _most _of that trauma, it could really help him.”

Luckily, it seemed that Neville shared in the light-bulb moment, and he began nodding enthusiastically. “You could be right– that could be a massive help. Talking to other people who saw the Battle was something that helped me. Sharing stories with someone like-minded could help him, too,” he smiled. “What a brilliant idea.”

He shrugged. “Ah, it’s nothing.”

Neville gave him a look. “You know, you’re _much _smarter than you think you are, James Potter. I think you should own that. Don’t apologise for coming up with brilliant ideas like that, and don’t bring yourself down when you do. Own them. Show the world you’re as clever as everyone around you already knows you are.”

* * *

** _Tuesday, 15 June 2021. _ **

Mum and Dad,

HELLO, friendly update from your favourite son here.

This time next week, exams will be in full swing and you won’t be able to reach myself _or _Albus _or _Lily (don’t take my word on Lily, though. She’s a tough nugget to read, that one.) But for now, I am sacrificing – yes, _sacrificing _– my study time to talk to you. 

BUT DO NOT FEAR. I am already well studied up. I am already certainly going to _ace _these exams with flying colours and bring pride to the Potter household. As for Lily, I’m sure she’ll bring just as much pride to the household as I will (maybe _not_ as much). 

Albus… he’s a little different. Mum, I know you said last year that it’s not my job to report back to you on everything Albus does, but I have a feeling he’d want you to know this. The other day, he told me that he feels like he’s already disappointed you enough. That he’s struggling with concentrating on his studies and if he fails, he’s going to feel really bad.

I think he needs to hear that you guys will be okay if he fails. Neville said he spoke to him the other day, which is good, and I think they had a little heart-to-heart, but nothing beats your mum and dad. I know that myself. 

Maybe one of you could come down here one day and just spend some time with him. I really think he would like that, and it might help set his mind right and help him concentrate a bit to know he has you on his side.

If you have any other concerns about Al, or Lily, or even me, please write. I know I joke around a lot with you two but I really do want the best for all of us and I hope I can help at least in some way.

Love you both.

James.

* * *

** _Saturday, 19 June 2021._ **

“James, are you okay…? You look like you’re about to snap your fork in half.”

Forced out of his own little bubble, James looked over at Rose, sat opposite him. He was too preoccupied with staring over at the Slytherin table where he could perfectly see Albus and Scorpius, grinning and laughing and smiling together, and a thought had popped into his head. He’d forgotten all about his previous conversation with Rose, and he cringed as he realised that. With an awkward chuckle, he apologised. “Yeah, I’ve just been thinking.”

Rose rolled her eyes at him. “Uh, I _know _that. You’re as easy to read as a book.”

He threw her a look, and then glanced back over at his brother and Scorpius. Rose caught on and turned around to look at them, too. There must have been a million thoughts running through her mind. It was well known fact among the Hogwarts students that Scorpius Malfoy had a crush on Rose, and though Rose definitely didn’t feel the same way, she had grown quite fond of him, and she found him rather amusing sometimes. 

She turned back to face him. “Wishing you were with the Slytherin’s, are we?”

“_No,_” James shook his head, and then sighed. “It’s just... _nice. _To see Albus like that, smiling and laughing and having a nice time with his best friend. I haven’t seen that from him in a while… that level of comfort. It took him a while to even properly start laughing at my jokes after everything happened last year.”

Rose smiled softly. “It was bound to happen at some point, wasn’t it? Albus getting back into the swing of things.” Her expression changed. “You know, sometimes I feel quite guilty about the fact that I brushed him off so easily in our first year. But then I think about the fact that if I’d stayed, inserted myself into their friendship where I clearly didn’t belong, they probably wouldn’t have become as close as they are right now. That makes me feel much better about everything.”

He admired her for that. Rose had always been an assertive woman, and considering she _was _Hermione’s daughter _and _Ron’s daughter, that was explanation enough. She’d been outgoing since her first day at Hogwarts and had made friends immediately. James remembered it. Remembered feeling a little strange about how she’d brushed him off after growing up with Albus. Remembered feeling a little hurt by it. But seeing how much she’d grown after the years had gone by, seeing how she’d changed… she was more like Ron and Hermione now than she was when she was younger. She’d just grown into her personality.

“Things always work out like they’re supposed to. Mum says that,” James said.

He glanced over at Albus and Scorpius again and noticed that they were starting to stand up and leave The Great Hall, and he couldn’t help himself. He held up a hand to Rose and muttered a soft “_I’ll be back in just a second_” before half jogging over to the doors of The Great Hall where the two boys were.

Instead of a strange look from Albus – something that he’d really grown to expect over the last few months – he was greeted with a smile, one that he couldn’t help but reciprocate. It was a nice change from the standoffish brother he’d been lately, and he desperately hoped that it was a sign for good things to come. 

James looked between them. “I have something to say, Scorpius.”

And the look of happiness on Albus’ face disappeared and morphed into one of confusion, worry and slight anger. As if he was worried about what James was going to say, even though James knew for certain it was nothing bad and that he had nothing to worry about. 

Scorpius, though, nodded for him to continue.

“Back at Christmas, Albus told me about the world that you lived in – the first one, where Albus was in Gryffindor and you were in Slytherin. He told me everything about it, about how hard it was for the two of you to be away from each other, how things went when you finally found your way back to each other, and watching you two just now at dinner, it got me thinking,” he explained. It was hard for him to keep the smile off of his face as he continued. “You couldn’t be friends in that world, and I know that must have played on your minds a _lot. _But Scorpius, I am _really _glad you can be friends in this one.”

He watched as Scorpius smiled, and Albus looked on, no longer afraid or worried, but instead, amused, and he flashed Albus a cheeky and _very _James like grin before quickly bidding them goodnight and returning to Rose. 

When he took his seat again, ready to finish his dinner, the two of them were gone, likely discussing James’ words as they headed down to the Slytherin common room, and the thought made him smile. 

Rose watched him carefully. “What was that all about? And _why _are you grinning?”

He shrugged a shoulder. “Albus… he’s just lucky, you know? What you were saying before, it made me think. And Scorpius is just as lucky, too. I’m really grateful he has a friendship… he told me once, when he was ten, that he didn’t know if he’d ever make friends. And now he has one, and I wasn’t sure what to think of that for a long time… but now I finally know.”

“You know what?”

“That whatever the universe had it store when Albus wandered into that train compartment on the 1st of September… it really, really got it right.”

* * *

** _Wednesday, 23 June 2021._ **

Dad,

I’ve been thinking. And don’t worry – it’s a good thing, I think.

But what would you say to some Quidditch lessons like we used to do before I made the team this summer? I was talking to Scorpius Malfoy after an exam earlier today and he mentioned that he wants to try out for the team next year.

You, me, Scorpius, maybe we could even rope in Draco Malfoy?

I don’t know. Just an idea. But I think it might be really nice.

Think on it and we can talk about it this summer.

Love James.

* * *

** _Friday, 25 June 2021._ **

James wrapped one arm around Albus’ shoulder and the other around Lily’s – though they were both shorter than him, Lily was easily _much _shorter than Albus, and James felt a little lopsided as the three of them left the entrance hall and headed out into the courtyard. The summer sun was warm and beating down on the castle as they walked outside and their plan to head down to the lake seemed like an even better idea now.

“Why are we doing this again?” Albus muttered, trying to shrug off James’ arm as they walked away from the castle. “I could be drinking pumpkin juice with Scorpius in the common room right now… rather than uncomfortably walking with your arm around me.”

It had been James’ idea for the three of them to celebrate the end of their exams down by the lake. He’d invited Scorpius, too, but he’d declined, saying he thought it might be nice for the three siblings to just spend some time alone, and James wasn’t going to argue with him. Plus, they hadn’t really had any time like this where it was just the three of them in a long, _long _while, and it was clear that they all needed it.

Keeping an arm wrapped around Albus’ shoulders despite his protest, James spoke. “For quality brother and sister time. And you’re not going to ruin it with a sour mood, are you? We just finished our exams, little brother! I only have one more year of this and then I am _done. _It’s time to _celebrate!” _He dragged out the word in a sing-song tone.

Lily snorted. “Yeah, don’t pursue a career in singing, James.”

“What, I’m not _that _bad at it, am I?”

“You keep telling yourself that.”

There were a few other students scattered around the lake and enjoying the sun and the shade when they finally arrived at their destination. The three of them found a spot by a tree and all sat down, and James finally and regretfully removed his arms from around their shoulders so they could sit comfortably on the ground.

Lily leant up against James’ side. “I can’t believe next year is your last year.”

He hummed. “You’re telling me.” The thought had been weighing on his mind for a while now – he’d just finished his sixth year, Albus had just finished his fourth and Lily her second. And soon enough his siblings would be at school and James would not be, and it was a slightly scary thought. He already knew what he wanted to do outside of Hogwarts, but whether or not that would _actually _happen was something that he wasn’t sure of, and he didn’t want to get his hopes up on the chance that things went wrong.

He was trying to stay positive, though. His mother had done it, so why couldn’t he? A professional Quidditch player. Or, if that didn’t work out, something educational. Perhaps with children where he could make them smile and laugh as much as possible. Either career path was one he really liked the idea of, and he looked forward to talking to his parents about it over the summer.

Breaking the atmosphere of calm, though, Albus’ voice came from a few feet away. He sat separate to the other two, a little in front of them and to the side, and he had to turn to look at them. “I can’t believe I even made it through this year alive.”

James and Lily, in their shock, looked at Albus, both surprised by his confession. Lily sat up straighter and furrowed her eyebrows, clearly displeased with his words, and James could have sworn his heart cracked a little in his chest at hearing his brother be so open and honest with the two of them.

Albus looked just as surprised by his confession as they had been, and he looked at them a little awkwardly and then tore his eyes away and stared out at the lake. “Sorry. Killed the mood, didn’t I? That sounded better in my head than it did when I said it.”

“No need to say sorry, mate,” James assured him. “But hey… you did it.”

There was a slight smile on Albus’ lips at that. “Yeah. I did it.”

Lily stood up and walked over to sit down beside him. “You did it. And we’re proud of you, Al. We’re _really, really _proud of you,” she looked back at James. “I have the best big brothers in the world. I’ve told you that before… but I really do.”

The smile on Albus’ face disappeared. “How can you say that, Lily? How can you say that when I– when I ran away last year, and I nearly destroyed the world? When my recklessness actually _killed _our entire family? How can you say that?”

She wrapped an arm around him and snuggled up to his side. “Because I don’t care about any of that stuff. That’s in the past. What I care about right now is how my two big brothers are celebrating the end of exams with me. And we’re going to have such a good summer, and all that stuff you did last year, that doesn’t matter. I’m never going to jump off of the roof of the Hogwarts Express, or use a time-turner, and the fact that you did those things… it doesn’t bother me. You’re still my big brother, Al. You always have been.”

“She’s right, you know,” James offered.

He hated hearing his brother talk so negatively about himself. He hoped that would change over the summer, but he knew there was every chance of that _not _happening. Still, as he looked at Lily and watched as she hugged Albus tight, and as Albus slowly weaved an arm around her back to hug her in return, he knew that all hope was not lost. Because she _was _right – and even though she claimed she had the best brothers, James was certain that _he _had the best sister, too. 

Albus glanced back at him.

“What happened last year is in the past, Al. Even if you still think about it all the time. We’re gonna spend the whole summer trying to take your mind off of it, you know that? We’re gonna play Quidditch, and we’re gonna go and see Muggle movies, and we’re gonna go out as a family and just spend time together. And things are going to change.”

“You really believe that?” Albus frowned. “I want to… but I don’t know if I can.”

James reached out and squeezed his shoulder. “You can, Al. You can.”


	5. Year Five - In Which Albus Potter Copes With the Aftermath

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where September marked the start of a new year at Hogwarts, June marks the end of one. Albus Potter and Scorpius Malfoy, seen through the point of view of family and friends and sometimes themselves, navigate their final months at Hogwarts over their seven years of school and beyond. A sequel/companion piece to Better September.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been a while! With times as anxiety inducing and stressful as they are, I've been in a bit of a lull with writing and with Cursed Child, but I've had this chapter and a few others sitting on my computer for a few months now and I'm deciding to post them in the hope it can bring a bit of happiness to someones life – if anyone is still reading this!
> 
> I'm really proud of this chapter, and these last few chapters too, and I'd love to hear your thoughts if you do happen to read this! Albus is such a complicated yet fun character to write and explore and this chapter was a pleasure to write. Please let me know what you think of it and I'll be back super soon with the final three chapters – Draco, Scorpius and Lily Luna!

** _Wednesday, 1 June 2022._ **

“You said it yourself,” Delphi smiled, a mix of sweet and terrifying. She started to slowly walk towards Albus. “There are certain things in this world that some people will do to get what they want. I’m one of those people, and I _will _get what I want.”

She laughed, then, and Albus shuddered. His heart was racing and he wanted to say something, but he couldn’t open his mouth. Words flew through his mind and disappeared, and he said none of them, and he watched as Delphi turned to look at Scorpius, crumpled up on the ground a few feet away from him, trembling and still recovering from Delphi’s Cruciatus Curse. He wanted nothing more than to crawl over to him, to wrap his arms around him and to assure him they’d find a way out of this.

But then his eyes moved back up to Delphi and he choked on thin air as he saw her, pointing her wand towards Scorpius again, and he vaulted to his feet, words finally finding him, right as he needed them. “No, no, no– don’t, _please! _I’m begging you, don’t hurt him– don’t hurt him, Delphi. _Please, _please… _please!_”

Delphi met his eyes, and her smile sent him back to the ground immediately. “I’m not going to hurt him again, Albus,” she spoke, voice deathly sweet. “I’m going to hurt _you, _and then you’ll have no choice but to follow me.”

It was like he lost the ability to hear, to move, to breathe, to do _anything. _He could see Delphi, and he could see her mouth moving, and he was yelling, he was _screaming _and his throat was sore as he screamed at her, and then there was a flash of green light and Albus collapsed to the ground. His face was wet with tears, and his ears were ringing… and Scorpius wasn’t trembling anymore.

She was speaking again. She was saying something and then she was walking towards him, and he no longer had the energy to try and crawl away from her like he’d done before. He didn’t bother looking at her – he _couldn’t. _All he could see was Scorpius, all he could hear was the sound of his own heavy breathing. And Delphi knelt down beside him, held out the time turner and then they were hurtling through time, and the last thing Albus saw was Scorpius.

* * *

Albus woke with a scream, his heart racing, sweat drenching his shirt, tears coating his cheeks. His breathing was heavy and his ears were ringing, and the sheets around his legs were trapping him. He had to get up. He had to move. Struggling, he kicked himself free of them and stood up from the bed on shaky legs. 

He spoke Scorpius’ name once, and then twice, and then a third time – finally managing to make it audible– his throat was sore and speaking hurt. But the dormitory stayed silent. His eyes fell on Scorpius’ bed – empty, perfectly made and with Scorpius nowhere in sight.

The light filtering in through the windows, he didn’t notice. The clock on the wall that read 9:47am, he didn’t notice. All he noticed was the lack of his best friend, and the thought in his head that _maybe that wasn’t just_ _a nightmare_? Maybe it was real. 

Albus slid to the floor and buried his head in his arms. 

“It was real, it was real, it was real, it was real.” His words were muffled, barely whispers, and tears were spilling down his cheeks again. His breathing got heavier, and his mind got more muted to the world around him as he curled up in a ball beside Scorpius’ bed, clutching onto the green blanket that covered it with one hand. The nagging feeling in the back of his mind that frantically tried to tell him that it _wasn’t _real was muted alongside the rest of it, and he collapsed into sobs.

* * *

A warm hand hesitantly touched his, and Albus jumped. His eyes searched for the culprit of the shock and fell on _Scorpius? _No, he had to be dreaming. He couldn’t be here. He’d seen Delphi– he’d seen her do– _no, _he was dreaming. It was his mind playing a cruel trick and nothing more. Why else would Scorpius be here?

He shook his head. “You’re not real– I saw you– I saw you–”

Scorpius knelt on the floor in front of him, robes curling up around him. “It’s all right, Albus,” he spoke softly. “It’s all right. I’m real. I’m here. I think you just had a nightmare. Do you want to tell me what happened? I’m a really good listener.”

Slowly, Albus met Scorpius’ eyes, and Scorpius smiled – one of those smiles that Albus loved so much. One of the smiles that set Albus’ insides on fire, that made the butterflies in his stomach flutter faster. 

“We were– we were on the Quidditch pitch, and Delphi was there– she was about to take us back to the third task but… things were _different,_” Albus whispered. He kept his eyes firmly focused on Scorpius’ eyes. If he looked away, he might disappear. He didn’t want him to disappear. “She was saying things she never said that day– she did– she– she _killed _you, Scorpius. I watched you… I watched you _die._”

Scorpius hands slowly took hold of Albus’ hands, removing one of them from the blanket he was still clasping tightly, and held them in his. 

“It was just a nightmare, Albus, I’m right here. She didn’t kill me. She’s not here.”

The simple thing of Scorpius holding his hands seemed to open Albus’ eyes, just a little, and he blinked at Scorpius’ words. Memories sunk back in – and _Craig. _He inhaled deeply and let his eyes drop away from Scorpius’. 

“It was Craig. She– she killed Craig.”

Scorpius hummed sadly. “She… she did.”

And then Scorpius was hugging him.

“I woke up and you weren’t here– nobody was here, and I thought– the nightmare, it felt so real that I believed it, and then… I thought I was getting better, Scorp. It’s been nearly two years, and it feels the same way it did when it happened,” he breathed. “It’s meant to be getting better– everyone, they all said it would get better.”

Scorpius rubbed his back. “My dad went through some terrible things when he was just a little older than we are now. And he’s still dealing with that, things are still getting better for him. Just like your dad. But I will be by your side for all of it, I promise you.”

For a moment, he let Scorpius’ words sink in and tried to let himself bathe in the comfort of Scorpius hugging him. But then– Scorpius was here, and it was a school day and- _oh no. _Guilt settled firmly in his stomach.

“Did I– did I miss first period?”

He snorted. “First _and _second. But I think Professor McGonagall will understand.”

Albus pulled away and looked at Scorpius. “First _and _second?” It got worse.

“Well, technically we’re supposed to be in History of Magic right now.”

His eyes widened. “I’m making you miss History of Magic. And we have O.W.L. exams this month – Scorpius, you should go. You should be studying,” he tried to push himself to his feet but Scorpius tugged him back down.

“No,” Scorpius shook his head, “I’m _choosing _to miss History of Magic because my best friend needs me. You’re not making me miss anything. _Now, _stop fussing over missing classes and stressing over nightmares. Focus on me, and we’ll get back to school work when you’re ready, and _only _then. Deal?”

Albus smiled softly. What on earth would he do without this boy? “Deal.”

* * *

** _Sunday, 5 June 2022._ **

The Great Hall was packed with students for breakfast, most of them thrilled about the fact that they had no classes today – Albus included. He’d had a little bit of a sleep in (as long as he could before missing breakfast) and had piled up his plate with nearly everything that was on the table. He had a pancake covered in maple syrup hanging off the side of the plate because it wouldn’t fit, scrambled eggs on the other side, a very badly buttered piece of toast taking up the centre and, at Scorpius’ insistence, some fruit in the spare spaces.

Scorpius sat beside him with a much more respectable plate – fruit and a piece of toast. Nothing hanging off the sides, nothing smothered in butter or maple syrup. Though he _had _admitted that the pancakes looked rather luscious. 

“Don’t tell my dad,” Albus started, swallowing a mouthful of eggs. “But Hogwarts does the _best _breakfasts. He makes stuff for us every September 1st, and on the weekends sometimes when he’s not busy, but it is nowhere _near _as good as this is.”

Scorpius raised an eyebrow. “I’m surprised you’re even tasting it, considering how fast you’re shovelling everything down. You’d think you’re swallowing it whole.”

With a look, Albus maintained eye contact as he attempted to shove the _entire _pancake in his mouth. His plan was faulty, however, as he’d covered it in so much maple syrup that it started to drip down his hands, and then down his chin and then, finally, onto his pristine white t-shirt. His mouth full of pancake, he looked down at the stain and made a noise of disapproval.

Beside him, Scorpius was struggling not to laugh. “Make sure you chew that.”

He threw him another look, still chomping his way through the pancake, and Scorpius, being the good friend that he was, pulled his wand out and uttered a spell, and the maple syrup stain disappeared.

“Fank-shew!” 

Scorpius patted his shoulder. “Don’t talk with your mouth full, Al.”

Finally, when Albus finished chewing his pancake and wiped the maple syrup off of his hands and his chin, he turned to Scorpius. He didn’t care that he’d technically made a fool of himself in front of the entire Slytherin table, all he cared about was that he’d made Scorpius smile. Today was his father's birthday – another birthday that he was going to have to spend alone, and Albus knew Scorpius hated that. He’d considered getting a special pass to go home for the weekend, but with their O.W.L exams coming up, it wasn’t the smartest idea and he knew it. Plus, Draco would probably just be annoyed if Scorpius showed up and forgot about his exams for a day. 

Albus, however, had a plan. A plan that didn’t involve embarrassing himself over breakfast and, instead, involved his little sister, Lily, and a small birthday present that he _hoped _Scorpius’ dad would like. 

He didn’t miss the confused look that Scorpius threw him when Lily, having just left the Gryffindor table, took a seat opposite them. She looked out of place among the Slytherin’s, but she didn’t have a care in the world. Albus smiled at her as she looked between them, and then she got started. 

“_So,” _Lily began, “I heard it’s your dad's birthday today.”

Scorpius fumbled. “Uh… _yes, _who told you that?”

“Albus, but that doesn’t matter.” She shook her head, getting straight to the point. “Have you sent him anything yet? A present or a birthday card or something?”

Eyebrows furrowed, Scorpius looked between her and Albus. “No… _why?_”

Her eyes lit up. “_Wonderful! _We are going to spend the morning making him a birthday card so that he’s not so lonely on his birthday! And don’t you dare make any excuses about studying, Scorpius Malfoy. I know very well that after breakfast you and Albus planned to wander down to the lake before you studied this afternoon anyway. There will be _plenty _of time for you to study after we make the card.”

Scorpius gaped as he looked between them, and Albus couldn’t help but grin cheekily at him as he saw the realisation on Scorpius’ face that he had absolutely no excuses to get out of this situation. He had a feeling that Scorpius didn’t mind.

* * *

In true Lily Potter fashion, she had taken over an empty classroom and she, Albus and Scorpius had set to work. She’d found some parchment and her and Albus had piled together a bunch of equipment – she had some coloured markers and pencils that she liked to draw with sometimes, and Albus had supplied a few lead pencils and dark markers that he’d only recently started to draw with. 

Scorpius held up the card in front of him.

“What do you think?” Albus asked, peeking over his shoulder. “Will he like it?”

His smile grew, and he nodded and turned to look at Albus. Butterflies erupted into Albus’ stomach and he cringed at the feeling. _Stupid crush, always getting in the way. _“I think he’ll love it, Albus.”

Lily grinned as she watched the two of them. “He might be a bit confused to receive a birthday card coloured in every single colour of the rainbow _and _with a small drawing of Scorpius on the back,” She threw Albus a look – he was responsible for that one, “_but _I think he’ll appreciate all of the hard work that went into it. When was the last time you _made _him a birthday card, Scorpius?”

Scorpius nodded and sat the card down. “I couldn’t have said it better myself,” he hummed. “Hopefully this will make him feel less lonely on his birthday. I’ve never made one… oh wait, _no, _when I was really little me and mum used to make them and decorate them for him. Dad and I even tried to make one for mum once. But he wasn’t as artistically inclined as she was.”

“It will,” Albus assured him. “And I’m sure your mum would have loved to see it.”

As Lily got started on getting an envelope ready, Scorpius gently took hold of one of Albus’ hands and pulled him off to the corner of the room. They’d lost track of time completely, and Scorpius _was _a little desperate to get back to studying, but Albus could see in his eyes how much this meant to him. 

It had been his idea – the night before Scorpius had mentioned feeling bad that he couldn’t be with his father on his birthday, and he’d sent Lily an owl just before they’d gone to sleep, knowing that if anyone could help, it was her. He drew sometimes, he was slowly diving into the world of art and drawing, but he was no professional. Lily had been drawing things and creating art since she was much, _much _younger. Albus was only an amateur, but the look on Scorpius’ face when Albus had started drawing a small, waving Scorpius and _then _when he’d enchanted it so that the hand actually waved back and forth? If Albus could see that smile every day for the rest of his life, he would be happy forever.

“Thank you for this,” Scorpius muttered softly. He was still holding on to one of Albus’ hands, though he didn’t seem to realise. Albus had, however, and he was worried he’d started to blush. “I think this is exactly what I needed to get my mood up.”

Albus shrugged a shoulder. “Hey, I know you better than you think I do.”

He rolled his eyes. “I _know _you know me well. Works both ways with us.”

And _there _were the butterflies again. He gave an awkward chuckle and then started to swing the hand that Scorpius was still holding. He ignored the sting as Scorpius noticed and dropped it. 

“Well, that’s what friends do, right? I’ll help you anytime you need me, Scorp. You just… you just let me know, and I will be there.” 

Scorpius smiled at him – another one of those smiles that sent the butterflies mad in his stomach, and he swore he was going to start going red in the face any second now. But he’d done exactly as he intended. He’d made his best friend smile, he’d made him happy. And that was all he ever wanted.

* * *

** _Thursday, 9 June 2022._ **

It was not just a crush anymore. 

He knew that, now. As he lay in his bed, staring up at the ceiling, the green curtains drawn around him, he knew. It was not just a silly crush on his best friend, it was something more. It’d been months since he realised he liked him – since September 27th 2021, _precisely. _But it had taken him this long to realise it was more than like. Oh, it was more.

But he was too terrified to even _think _the word of what it really was.

Carefully, and as quietly as he could manage, he pushed the curtains back a little, enough to grab the notebook sat by the side of his bed, and the self-inking quill on top of it. Luckily, the green curtains were dark enough to not let any light out, so he felt comfortable to cast Lumos as he flipped to an open page and started to write. 

He liked writing. It helped him get all of the thoughts that were running around in his mind out of there. It helped him sleep most nights. Sometimes he liked drawing, and other times writing was his favourite thing to do. He’d written so many little poems on random pages of the notebook – poems that would never see the light of day. But they helped him. Writing in general helped him clear his head when he most needed it. And right now, he needed it the most.

* * *

_Dear not-a-diary,_

_I think I am having what they call an ‘epiphany’. In which I am starting to realise that maybe I actually like Scorpius even more than I thought I did. And that’s kind of a scary thought. He’s been my best friend for years now, I mean _years. _And the more time that passes, the stronger my feelings get and the more scared I feel._

_Scorpius Malfoy is the better half of me and he doesn’t even realise it._

_What if he finds out and he hates me? He likes Rose – I don’t know if he still does, but he did last time I checked. And he still gets a bit tongue-tied around her sometimes. But he doesn’t get that way around me and all the things I’ve read say that’s a bad sign._

_He held my hand the other day and didn’t let go for a while. They say that’s a good thing. And how he smiles at me all the time and I see something in his eyes that I’ve never seen before. They say that’s a good sign, too. _

_I _want _Scorpius to realise he is the better half of me. _

_But I am also scared for him to realise that because how on earth can I be the better half of him when I barely even _have _a better half myself? That’s where things just start to go wrong. Where I start to realise how silly I’m being. Because how on earth could Scorpius Malfoy feel the same way about me as I feel about him? He is a Malfoy, a Malfoy who could not love a Potter – not in that way. Not in the way I think I want him to._

_Scratch that – not love. Love is too strong a word. It’s something in-between._

_I know that I act strangely around him sometimes. I don’t mean to. But I get overwhelmed with how I feel for him, and how he makes the butterflies in my stomach just go absolutely crazy. And how he smiles at me and I can’t stop looking at his lips._

_I wish it was easier than this._

_I should go to sleep. Overthinking all of this probably isn’t good for my health and I’m losing sleep when I have classes in the morning and my O.W.L exams are days away. I need to stop thinking about how much I like Scorpius and more about History of Magic… _

_Maybe that will help me fall asleep._

* * *

** _Saturday, 11 June 2022._ **

Albus,

Hello, dad here. We haven’t heard from you for a little while so I’m just writing to check up on you and make sure you’re alright. James and Lily have been writing and they both seem to be in a great mood with the upcoming exams. I think James is more excited about what comes _after _the exams, but Lily seems confident. Your mother and I hope that studying for your exams aren’t stressing you out too much and that when you get started with them on Monday, you will absolutely smash them.

I hope you’re doing all right apart from exams, that the nightmares aren’t too bad and are getting better. I went and visited Cedric’s grave again last week, and then I decided to go and see Amos Diggory afterwards. He was surprised to see me but grateful that I came to see how he was doing. Sometimes I forget that everything that happened last year, he was part of as well, although unwittingly. It must play on his mind a lot.

It’s coming up to twenty-seven years this month since Cedric was killed and I’ve been thinking about it a lot. I truly hope you’re not thinking about it too much, Albus, that you’re focusing on your exams instead. Perhaps we could take a walk up to his grave again when you finish school for the year? I think that might be nice.

Anyway, I will leave you to it. I don’t want to take you away from your studying too much. Your mother wouldn’t be very happy with me.

Love and miss you, son.

Dad. 

* * *

** _Tuesday, 14 June 2022._ **

Mum,

I know you said that dad doesn’t want me taking time away from my exams to write to you but I could _really _do with some mum time right about now. I miss you a lot, and I am really stressed by these exams and I don’t want to wait until I’m home to see you. I feel really, really overwhelmed and I think I failed my exam this morning.

Scorpius thinks I shouldn’t worry so much but I can’t help it.

I could really do with one of your hugs, mum.

Love Albus.

* * *

Darling Albus,

I’m free on Sunday, how is that for you? Your dad will live with you taking a break from your exams. Most of all, I know he just doesn’t want you being overwhelmed or stressed and if this will help, he will be happy. 

We’ll talk about your exams and Scorpius then.

And you’ll get plenty of my hugs.

Love you lots, Mum xx

* * *

** _Friday, 17 June 2022._ **

Albus Potter stifled a yawn as he and the other fifth year students exited the Herbology greenhouses after the end of their practical Herbology exam – they had their written exam in an hour and a half, and he was a little worried how he’d do in it simply because he was so exhausted. Scorpius walked beside him as they headed out for some much needed sun, planning on walking back to the castle for lunch before the exam.

“I definitely failed that one,” Albus laughed breathily. “Herbology has never been my strong suit. Us Potter’s are not meant for the life of plants. Mum bought a muggle plant in a shop one day and it died two days later. She took it back to the shop and the shopkeeper said she’d never seen one die so fast.”

Scorpius snorted. “I’m sure you did _fine, _Al. It can’t be that bad.”

He opened his mouth to speak a reply to Scorpius but was cut off before he could by Professor Longbottom jogging up to them. His cloak was billowing in the breeze, but there was a smile on his face – he spent a lot of time smiling, Albus noticed.

“Would you mind if I had a quick word with Albus for a second, Scorpius?” He asked kindly, taking Albus off guard completely. He’d been in the exam taking notes and scoring them on the practical aspect but Albus didn’t realise he’d done _that _badly.

Scorpius was happy to oblige, though, and bid Albus a small goodbye before walking off ahead of them and planning to meet Albus in the Great Hall for lunch as soon as he was finished. Albus looked after him, a little lost for words. His brother had once said that the two of them were ‘glued at the hip’ and Albus had laughed because it _definitely _wasn’t true. But he wondered, briefly, if it was now. He shook off the thought, though – Neville was his _godfather. _Being afraid to speak to him without Scorpius by his side was silly. 

He finally met Neville’s eyes – he’d insisted that Albus call him that, seeing as they _were _family and all, but _only _out of class – and screwed up his face a little. “Did I do that badly in the exam?” He sounded a little sheepish as he spoke.

Neville, though, shook his head immediately. “Oh, no! No, that’s not what I’m here to talk to you about Albus,” he explained quickly, a little amused. “I’m just wondering how you’re handling things – you’re a week into your O.W.L.s today – they’re a stressful thing for the regular student, but for you, I’m just curious as to how you’re coping.”

His eyebrows furrowed. “Have you been put up to this by my parents?”

It wouldn’t surprise him – if Neville _had _been put up to this. He knew how close they all were at school and the fact that he was his godfather wasn’t something that Albus had forgotten. But to Albus, he was nothing more than a godfather and a family friend, and though he was one he wished he saw more often, he couldn’t help but be a little defensive. He was coping just _fine _with his exams. Why on earth would he be struggling more?

Much to his surprise, though, Neville actually _laughed. _

“No, not at all, Albus!” He shook his head and chuckled again. “No, I’m just curious. I care about you, your brother and your sister very much. Your parents are like family to me, and you’re my godson. And I know what you and Scorpius went through last year. These exams – they’re a stressful time of year for any regular student, yes, but they’re even more stressful for those who already have a mind full of thoughts so big they can barely fit in anything new. I don’t want to overstep, but I have a feeling you may tick that box.”

Albus sighed. He’d gotten defensive, and he could have even hurt Neville’s feelings if he hadn’t been careful. He didn’t want to hurt anybody’s feelings. And he was right – he _was _just curious. He was like family, and he was just curious and worried about his godson. He had every right to be. He scrunched up his nose and apologised.

“What are you apologising for? You’re fine, Albus,” he assured him.

Still, he shook his head. “You’re my godfather and I just brushed you off… I’m sorry. I’m okay, Neville– I am. Or… _I will be. _That sounds better. Like you said, it’s a stressful time of year for any regular student. But thank you for checking up on me, for making sure that I’m all right. Not many Professors would do that.”

He shrugged a shoulder. “I’m not just any Professor, am I?” He flashed a grin.

A little hesitantly, Neville wrapped an arm around Albus’ shoulders as they finally started to walk away from the greenhouses and back to the castle where Scorpius was undoubtedly waiting for Albus. 

“Anytime you need someone to talk to, Albus,” Neville started softly, “don’t forget that I’m here. I know I’m not Scorpius, and I’m not your brother or your sister, or your mum or your dad, and you might just think of me as some old, embarrassing Professor now, but I _am _your friend. Or I would like to think I am something like it.”

Albus looked up at him. “No, you’re family, Neville. You’re _my_ family.”

He was struck with a thought deep in the pit of his stomach, then – how on earth did he manage to get a family like this? A family that, however difficult, did care more than he thought they did? And they weren’t perfect – no, they were anything but perfect, but they were something… and that had to be enough. It had to be.

* * *

** _Sunday, 19 June 2022._ **

Ginny laughed, and then laughed again, but louder. Albus was hugging her more tightly than he’d ever hugged her before. She was holding on tightly to him, and he had his head buried in her shoulder – he’d grown much taller this year, though James was still taller than the both of them. He could feel the eyes of other people in Hogsmeade on them but he did his best to ignore them, because his mother was here, he was hugging her and he didn’t _ever _want to let her go again. The thought of finishing another week at school after this day before he got to see her again was a thought he didn’t like.

“This is unexpected,” she smiled down at him. “Did you really miss me that much?”

Albus nodded, and then regretfully pulled away from her a little. He’d have time to hug her again, he planned for that. And they had a table waiting for them inside The Three Broomsticks and Albus was absolutely _aching _for a butterbeer.

She wrapped an arm around his shoulders as they walked inside. The chilly breeze that had been wafting throughout Hogsmeade was gone, and they were both grateful to be in the warmth of the restaurant, even though there was still a slight warm tinge to the June air outside. It was, thankfully, much more comfortable inside.

“Tell me,” Ginny began, after they’d ordered. “What’s been happening?”

He took a breath. There were many things he could talk about. He could talk about his exams. He could talk about his talk with Neville a few days earlier, he could talk about his crush on Scorpius Malfoy (though that was an unlikely choice), he could talk about how scared he was that this was his last week with James at Hogwarts by his side – and what would he do without his big brother there with him?

Ginny was patient, though, and Albus appreciated that. That she didn’t push him for answers or any sort of explanation as to why they were here today, sitting in The Three Broomsticks with a glass of butterbeer sat in front of them both. She waited until he was ready to speak, and when he was ready, he did.

“Well,” he sighed, “a _lot._”

She laughed, and he smiled.

“I think I failed a few of my exams… they’re really overwhelming. James said that they were, and I believed him, but I didn’t realise just how much. There’s a lot to do, and so much riding on them… and they mean so much. If I fail them, if I fail my favourite subjects… that’s _it,_” he admitted, a little quietly. He didn’t want people to overhear him and become amused that Harry Potter’s son was failing exams. “Did you do all right in yours?”

Ginny gave him an apologetic smile. “I get it, I do. But you can’t afford to think like that, Albus. That there’s nothing after them, because there _is. _And even if you do fail some, you will pass others, and those ones will be the subjects you give your all to next year. Your favourite subjects are your favourite for a reason. You’re good at them. And if you pass them, then that’s even better,” she assured him gently. “I did all right in mine, but that doesn’t matter. You’re not me.”

He flushed a little at that and gave an awkward sounding laugh. “You know… last year, when dad came to Hogwarts and we went on that walk… he said that I was more like you than I am like him. What do you think of that?” 

“I think that might be just a _little _bit true.” She grinned at him. “Really, though. Your father is an incredibly complicated man. And while some of that might have been him just desperately _not _wanting a child like himself, I like to think you’re a good and equal balance of the both of us. Don’t tell him, but I also like to think you’re more Weasley than Potter, and you can do with that what you will.”

A smile sprang to his face. He liked that idea – being more Weasley than Potter. It took a little stress off of the name, and he wondered briefly why his parents hadn’t chosen to hyphenate like Ron and Hermione had chosen to do. Weasley-Potter sounded like an entirely respectable surname to him. But he did like hearing that she agreed with his father. And he could see parts of himself in his father sometimes, too, but he didn’t like to think about that very much, because it made everything he’d put him through last year even more painful than it already was.

The admiration with which she spoke about his father was something that really struck him, though. He’d been completely taken aback by it – even though he’d now lived fifteen years seeing it almost every single day in one form or another. The love she had for him was clear when he spoke about him, and Albus couldn’t help the image of Scorpius that came to mind when he thought about that. He smiled just a little at the simple idea of him being able to speak so openly and lovingly about Scorpius in the same way one day.

Ginny saw the look on his face almost instantly and raised an eyebrow and Albus, ever his mother’s child, caved completely – he wasn’t going to tell her everything. He was going to tell her the bare minimum. But perhaps it would help, having it out there and _not _in a journal? 

“I like someone. In _that _way,” he whispered, even more afraid of being overheard.

The shock on her face was clear. “You _like _someone? Albus, that’s wonderful.”

His cheeks flushed and he folded in on himself a little, uncomfortable with the attention even though it was from his mother. “That’s all I’m going to tell you… I just wanted you to know… and… well– do you… do you have any advice?”

Her shock turned into a smile and she reached across the table and took one of his hands, giving it a squeeze. “Go at your own pace. Figure things out in your own time. If you like them, you like them. And you have all the time in the world to discover what that means.”

“Really?” He mumbled quietly.

Ginny nodded. “_Really._”

* * *

** _Friday, 24 June 2022._ **

For a Friday night, the Slytherin common room was unsurprisingly _filled _with students, smothered in loud music and uncomfortably crowded. Albus and Scorpius stood in a corner, both holding a glass of butterbeer each, and looked around the room.

“I can’t believe we’ve actually finished our fifth year…” Scorpius breathed.

Albus chuckled softly. “I know… I didn’t think we’d get there, with everything that happened last year… it just makes me think about how lucky I am. How lucky I am to still have _you _by my side… even though my nightmares suck.”

He placed a hand on Albus’ shoulder. “Hey, they’re just nightmares. I’m still here.”

Ignoring the butterflies that erupted in his stomach _again_, Albus rested a hand on top of Scorpius’ and gave him a tight lipped smile. He was grateful for that, and it was part of the reason he never wanted to tell him about his crush. They had the strongest friendship Albus was ever going to have. And the potential of ruining that? It wasn’t a nice thought. He’d decided long ago that he’d rather live with the crush and keep the friendship than reveal the crush and lose the friendship completely.

“I was thinking about something the other day,” Scorpius started, taking a sip of his butterbeer. He removed his hand from Albus’ shoulder and stared out at the room, eyes pausing on a few other fifth year Slytherin students. Albus watched him carefully, intrigued as to what he was thinking. “You mentioned something a few months ago. A crush.”

And Albus felt his cheeks heat up. He hoped he could blame it on the warmth of the room – the amount of people around heating it up and causing him to get some kind of hot flush, if Scorpius noticed, and he probably would. He cleared his throat. “What about it?”

Scorpius met his eyes and flashed him a grin. “Oh, so it still exists?”

“Yeeeeeees,” he drew out the word, quietly and uncomfortably. 

“And?”

“And…” Albus hesitated. What could he say that wasn’t going to illicit a million more questions from Scorpius? “And I’m… I’m working my way up to it.” 

A look passed over Scorpius’ face and Albus frowned. He’d never seen that look on his face before, and he was even more intrigued about that look than anything else. His crush forgotten, he crossed his arms over his chest and turned fully to look at him.

“You’ve got something to say, don’t you?”

It was Scorpius’ turn to blush this time, and he gave a quiet laugh before taking a deep breath, reaching down and grabbing Albus’ hand and pulling him away from the party and to their empty dorm. He let go of Albus’ hand as soon as they were inside and wandered over to his bed where he sat his drink down on the bedside table. He patted the bed beside him and beckoned Albus over.

Slowly, and confused, Albus took a seat. 

“I’m nervous about telling you this,” he began, and Albus’ heart started to race. What on earth was he going to say? “I’ve been thinking about telling you for a while. And you’re my best friend – you deserve to know. I trust you, and I know you will _hopefully _hear me out. You know – we’ve been friends for a long time now, so there’s a certain level of trust that runs between us, and I’d like for you to focus on that, if you could.”

Albus frowned. “Would you just spit it out and stop stalling?”

He laughed again, and then nodded. “I like Rose–”

And Albus’ heart cracked in his chest. He swallowed. “Um, I know.”

Scorpius held up a hand. “I wasn’t _finished, _Albus. Let me finish,” he paused, and he sounded strangely agitated as he did. Albus allowed him that, realising he probably _shouldn’t _have butted in where he wasn’t wanted. “I like Rose… but not as much as I did when I was younger because– because…” He took another breath. “I have discovered, recently, that I also, a little bit, like boys.”

If Albus had been drinking, it would have ended all over Scorpius. He was at a loss for words– and his heart was beating faster in his chest, and he was smiling. He was _smiling_? But he was also confused, more than he had been in a long while. He knew what Scorpius meant. James was like that, too. But he hadn’t expected that from him. He wasn’t at all disappointed, though. His silence, though, he suddenly noticed, had clearly made Scorpius even more anxious.

He barely thought before blurting out a very loud “Great!”

And Scorpius smiled a little. “Great?”

Albus nodded. “_Yeah,_” he hummed. “You can like whoever you want, Scorpius. I’m still going to be your friend. You could have a crush on a teapot and I’d be your friend. Probably a very confused friend, but a friend nonetheless.”

“A _teapot?_” Scorpius snorted and shook his head. “No, I think I’ll stick to boys and girls, at least for now. But thank you for the reassurance.” 

Using some of the Gryffindor courage that Albus did have locked up inside, despite his Slytherin label, he reached over and grabbed one of Scorpius hands. “I mean it, Scorp. I’m glad you feel comfortable enough around me to tell me that. And I am entirely okay with everything you just said.”

As he and Scorpius returned to the party, Albus couldn’t help but wonder exactly what _he_ was. If he liked girls and boys the same as Scorpius and James did, or if he was something entirely different. He knew he liked Scorpius… but was that enough? His mother’s words came back to him: _“If you like them, you like them. And you have all the time in the world to discover what that means.” _

He believed her. 

* * *

** _Saturday, 25 June 2022._ **

Albus stirred awake, eyes fluttering open and focusing in on Scorpius, sat on the seat opposite him on The Hogwarts Express, which was still chugging its way through the countryside on the way back to London. He thought he’d slept for longer, though apparently not.

He squeezed his eyes shut again, and then opened a single one. “Are we nearly there yet?” He looked at Scorpius, who was holding a bag of sweets – ones that Albus had bought for him at Honeydukes when he went with Ginny. Scorpius was still too afraid of the Trolley Witch to buy things from her anymore. _Scorpius the Dreadless, Malfoy the Unanxious _be damned.

With a smile, Scorpius looked over at Albus, who still looked very much asleep, curled up on the Hogwarts Express seat with his jacket wrapped around his shoulders. “Do you want the good news or the bad news?”

Albus narrowed his eyes. “The bad news.”

“We’re maybe five minutes out, which means you can’t have another nap.”

“And the good news?” He pushed himself into a seated position.

“The Trolley Witch has come and gone.”

He snorted and rubbed his eyes, shuffling over closer to the window where he watched the countryside still rolling by – but in the distance, he spotted a few taller buildings that had to be London. He hadn’t meant to fall asleep. It was supposed to be a quick nap because he hadn’t slept much the night before. He and Scorpius had both been up late with the other fifth year Slytherin’s (or the ones who could stand them) and Albus had been unable to sleep when his head had finally hit the pillow. He’d been up later just writing and writing in his journal in an attempt that hadn’t really worked. 

“You could have woken me up, you know?” He glanced over at Scorpius. “I feel bad that I fell asleep and that you’ve had to be all on your own for this entire train journey home.”

Scorpius shrugged a shoulder. “You’re forgetting that I’m an only child who grew up in a very large household with nobody but my parents. I thrive on loneliness… in some aspects.” Albus knew very well what those aspects were. “But it wasn’t that bad. You needed the sleep, anyway. You look terrible.”

Albus gaped. “Excuse me!”

“What?” Scorpius raised an eyebrow. “I’m being truthful. That’s what happens when you don’t get enough sleep. And you look a little bit better now – better rested. Which means your dad won’t ask questions when we get back on the Platform.”

Well… Scorpius wasn’t _entirely _wrong about that. Still, Albus screwed up his nose and turned to look out the window once more. They were much closer into the city now and Albus was starting to feel two things: homesick, because he very much considered Hogwarts as much of a home as his real one, and excited to see his family again. He hadn’t seen his father in a while, and while it had only been a week since he’d seen his mother, he missed her more than anything.

_And _he was looking forward to summer. To spending time at The Burrow with his grandparents and his cousins, to spending time with his siblings _and _to spending time with Scorpius, too – that was the best part about summer. Seeing Scorpius and not having to worry about exams or homework or classes or anything else. 

“You’re coming over this summer, aren’t you?” 

Scorpius nodded instantly. “If the offer is there.”

“It always is, you know that,” Albus hummed happily. 

* * *

When, only a few minutes later, the Hogwarts Express pulled up at Platform 9 ¾, the two boys got their luggage from their compartment and started to leave the train. Albus was surprised to see that his parents, Uncle Ron, Aunt Hermione _and _Draco Malfoy were all stood together, and he turned to Scorpius as they walked over.

Scorpius seemed to be thinking the same thing and raised his eyebrows at him.

“Welcome home!” Hermione grinned as she spotted the two of them.

And Albus threw himself into Ginny’s arms at the same time as Scorpius threw himself into Draco’s arms. It had been a long week without one of his mothers hugs, and he eagerly awaited receiving even more of them over the summer. 

“How was the journey home?” Ginny asked after he pulled away.

Scorpius chuckled and looked over at her. “Um, he slept the whole way.”

“He slept the _whole way_?” Ron seemed surprised, and honestly, a little jealous. “I wish I could have done that on that train. I could never get comfortable. Never more than a few pesky minutes here and there.”

Hermione patted his arm softly. “They’ve probably done upgrades since, honey. Much more comfortable seats for the new generation and all that.”

Albus turned and looked up at his father, and for the first time ever, he stepped forwards and hugged him. He didn’t miss how the rest of them went quiet in their shock, but he didn’t mind. He hadn’t hugged his father on Platform 9 ¾ since his very first day at Hogwarts. And not even last year, because the memories had still been too fresh and all he wanted was to go home and have nothing to do with anything. 

This year, though, it was different.

It took Harry a second to hug back, though when he did, Albus smiled. 

Things would never be perfect with his father. They were two different people, with different thoughts, minds and goals. But as long as they were both trying, and as long as Albus was certain Harry loved him, he would be good enough. Yes, being the son of the famous Harry Potter was a chore sometimes, but being the son of Harry and Ginny Potter, being the brother to James and Lily, being the nephew to Hermione and Ron… that was easy.


	6. Year Six - In Which Draco Malfoy Needs His Son

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where September marked the start of a new year at Hogwarts, June marks the end of one. Albus Potter and Scorpius Malfoy, seen through the point of view of family and friends and sometimes themselves, navigate their final months at Hogwarts over their seven years of school and beyond. A sequel/companion piece to Better September.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter right here is one of my favourite things I've ever written. I started it in November, back when I sort of fell in love with Draco all over again, and when I saw the show then I focused so much on him and Tom's performance in particular (Aus Draco) and this chapter was born of that. I'm really proud of it. I hope you guys like it.

** _Thursday, 1 June 2023._ **

Draco reached out in the dark of the room, his eyes closed and the blankets kicked to the bottom of the bed, sweat drenching his body and the cool breeze drifting in through the window forgotten as he dreamed.

But it wasn’t a dream. No, it was something worse. 

He tossed and turned, and his mind twisted faster and faster as the nightmare turned inside him, causing him to whimper softly until it reached a peak and then finally, he woke up – grey eyes opening to a dark room, heart racing, breathing fast and heavy.

“_Damn it,_” he swore under his breath, running a hand over his face. His hair was star-fished on the pillow around him and he sat up and fumbled for a hair tie on the bedside table to pull it up and get it out of the way. Astoria used to braid it. He couldn’t braid it himself. His eyes stalled on a photo by his watch and the hair tie, and he smiled.

It was of him and Astoria on their wedding day, and she looked effervescent. She was utterly glowing and Draco was looking at her with nothing but love in his eyes. She was swaying slightly to some of the music they’d had at their reception, and it had been the most happy and carefree he’d seen her. Without the pressure to be perfect, without the need to impress everyone. Their wedding had been one of the most beautiful and memorable days of his life, and this picture was a perfect capture of the day. 

He felt his eyes start to water with tears and tore them away from the photo, letting his head fall into his hands. With a sigh, he hurriedly stood up from the bed, the cold floors of Malfoy Manor chilling his feet and his body as he left the room quickly. He needed a drink. 

Most of all, he needed to not think about Astoria, for she had featured in the nightmare, but not as much as his son had. He cringed at the images still running through his head. A world where he was entirely alone. Where Astoria was still gone, but even worse, because Scorpius was gone, too. Where he was, Draco had no idea, but the nightmare had been so vivid that the second he woke up, he’d felt a panic deep inside his chest because what if Scorpius was in danger? What if he was dreaming of something that was going to happen? A world that was going to tear him apart? He’d nearly lost him before. He couldn’t survive that thought again.

He shuddered as he finally reached the dark kitchen and got a glass of water. Draco took slow sips and stared out the window. In the distance, he could see the lights of some small town, but they were blurred out by the rain that had started to patter down some time during his nightmare. The windows were wet and it explained why the breeze in his bedroom had been so cold when he’d woken up. 

This was silly. He was a grown man and he was being woken up by nightmares in the middle of the night – nightmares that weren’t real. But nightmares that, he figured, had to be based in some kind of reality. For Scorpius _had _spoken of a world where things were different, where people hadn’t existed. Astoria hadn’t lived there, either, but he and Scorpius had. They’d been forced to continue without her in any world they entered, it seemed, and though Draco had no memories of that world at all, unlike Scorpius, he still felt cold whenever he thought of it. Two years on, and Draco still got a chill at the thought of the man he was in that world, and the way Scorpius had shrunk in on himself and flinched away from Draco when he’d told him all about it. The way who he was there had impacted on who Scorpius imagined him to be here.

His own son.

He rubbed at his eyes and downed the rest of his water. 

He needed sleep more than he needed to overthink right now. And so he made his way out of the kitchen and back upstairs to his bedroom. The cool breeze was still drifting through the room as he entered and he didn’t bother to close the window as he returned to his bed. Instead, he stared at the curtain that slightly moved in the breeze. 

His son was all right – Scorpius was safe, and he was happy, and he existed. And in just a short amount of time, he would be home and the Manor wouldn’t be so empty and so lonely anymore. They would be able to play Quidditch, even though it was only the two of them. Draco wouldn’t be alone anymore, and the thought made him smile. He’d been alone for much of his life, and being with Astoria had changed that. But then she had gone, and he’d been alone again, and coming to terms with that… no, he still hadn’t. He doubted he ever would. But as long as his son was at least in his orbit… that could be enough.

Draco Malfoy drifted off to sleep that night in a cool room, with rain pattering down on the roof of Malfoy Manor, a picture of his wedding looking on at him, reminding him of a better day, a day where his bed was not so empty, a day where he didn’t have to leave a space beside him where Astoria had once slept. And instead of nightmares of a world where she and Scorpius didn’t exist, Draco dreamt of dancing in the rain with Astoria laughing gleefully, holding her hand as they walked through Diagon Alley, the feeling of picking Scorpius up from Platform 9 ¾, knowing he was finally _home _and suddenly, things didn’t feel so lonely after all.

* * *

** _Monday, 5 June 2023._ **

The rain had returned and Draco wasn’t entirely thrilled. He was already in a grey mood today, and the rain wasn’t helping. It always reminded him of moments that were happier, the rain. Astoria always used to enjoy it, and Scorpius had clearly inherited that from her, but Draco had a harder time finding the good in it when Astoria wasn’t here to help him and pull him outside to dance in the rain like she used to do.

Instead, he’d pulled out a bunch of photos from storage and busied himself with going through and organising them all, just to get his mind off of it. He hoped that looking at photos might make him happier, and so far, it _was _working just a little.

His heart leapt out of his chest as he looked down at the photo in front of him – a young Scorpius, blond hair falling all over his forehead, held by Astoria, her dark hair a total contrast to her son’s. But their eyes were the same shade of brown, the same shade Scorpius still had, his last gift from his mother. He must have been about… _four _in the photo, if Draco had to guess. He was never good with ages. 

He ran his fingers over their faces in the photo, as if that made them more real to him. For his 43rd birthday, he wished he could at least be with one of them. Yet, instead, he was alone – not an uncommon occurrence for him. He’d grown accustomed to that over the years, though it stung on days like this. Days that he and Scorpius and Astoria had celebrated extensively before things changed. Days that no longer held as much joy.

On the table in front of him, beside the other photos that he’d dragged out of storage, sat a letter from Harry and Ginny Potter, wishing him a very happy birthday. He hadn’t expected it, and honestly, he was still rather surprised by it, but he was grateful for that kindness, at least. His friendship with them was something he’d never seen coming and even though it had been borne of nearly losing his son, he appreciated it immensely. His younger self would have thought it entirely impossible, and part of himself now still thought that, but in little moments like that – where he received a letter from a Potter, or ran into them in the Ministry, he could. He had never been a person for true friendships, but this had to be the closest yet. 

He picked up another photo – Scorpius was a little older in it, but Astoria looked the same, and as he started to try and remember the day when it was taken, he heard a tapping at the window and frowned as he looked up at the source.

An owl was tapping on the drawing room window.

Another letter, perhaps?

Draco rose to his feet and crossed the room before opening up the window and letting the bird inside. To his joy, it didn’t fly around the living room and drip water all over the carpet, but rather stayed perched on the window sill. He held a small parcel, and Draco untied it. It was a little damp from the rain but luckily it wasn’t destroyed entirely. The bird flew away as soon as it was untied and Draco closed the window with one hand and read the front of the envelope attached to the parcel, holding it with his other hand.

_To Dad – Happy Birthday, _it read.

And he smiled softly to himself as he walked back over and took a seat on the couch. He undid the envelope carefully and pulled out a letter written in the careful handwriting of his son. He knew Scorpius hadn’t forgotten that it was his birthday, but he hadn’t expected anything either, especially with his sons busy schedule at school. This was more than a happy surprise.

_To Dad,_

_Happy Birthday. I hope you’ve been having a good day. I hope the owl hasn’t delivered this too late with the rain. It’s been pouring here all night and I’ve been waiting for a break to send this out for a while. _

_I wish I was at home with you on your birthday today. I wish you weren’t alone. I hate that your birthday always falls during the school term but not long and I won’t have to be at Hogwarts on your birthday and we can finally spend time together, if you’d like that._

_I would very much like that._

_In an attempt to make you feel a little less lonely, I’ve also sent you a small gift. It’s from Hogsmeade and I hope that it’s still okay and hasn’t been squashed or gotten wet. I miss you very much, dad. Happy Birthday._

_Love Scorpius x_

Smiling, Draco sat the letter down and turned to the parcel. With careful fingers, he untied the twine from around it and unwrapped the brown paper until the gift was free. A cake – a small, chocolate cake with the word _Dad _written on the top of it in some kind of white icing. He hadn’t expected that at all, but the more he thought about it, the more it made sense, Scorpius sending along a birthday cake.

His eyes stalled on a photo on the table in front of him and he sat the cake down as he shuffled through the ones on top to reach it. It was of him, this time, and he was sat in this very room, and on the table in front of him was a cake not dissimilar to the one on the table in front of him now, just a little larger. In his arms, he was holding a tiny, baby Scorpius – barely even a year old, he supposed, and his smile… he hadn’t smiled like that in a long time. 

But as he looked between the photo and the cake now, he couldn’t help it. His son, he couldn’t have him with him in person… but he was here in other ways. He knew that now.

* * *

** _Sunday, 11 June 2023._ **

Dear Astoria, 

Is it strange that I still write letters to you? I feel like it might be. But lately, I also believe it might be the only thing keeping me sane. Keeping me going until our son is home.

He sent me a card and a cake for my birthday the other day. It reminded me of better times. Times when things weren’t so difficult, times when you were still here. I miss you more on days like these. Days when we’d celebrate in the past but now days where I can barely force myself to get up and out of bed.

And it’s harder now, with Scorpius.

He’s older. He’s sixteen and he’s grown into a young man that reminds me of you every single day. He has your eyes and your temperament _and _your heart and soul buried somewhere down there, too. He’s more Greengrass than Malfoy at this point, I think. Once, I would have been irritated by that fact, but now it doesn’t bother me. I was so influenced by my upbringing that I wanted him to be a Malfoy through and through when we were raising him together. But despite that, your influence must have overtaken mine, and now I’m grateful for that. He is my memory of you, my constant reminder that you were here. His hair is the only thing about him that really tells who he is. That and the fact that over the last two years, he has grown to become proud of his family name, and we’ve both learnt to associate that name with better things than it was in my day. Things better than Death Eaters and Voldemort. Things we like better.

I know you’d be proud of him, Astoria. I know you would be. 

As for living in a world without you, things are still hard. And with everything that happened in Scorpius’ fourth year, I can’t help but feel always on edge around him. I’m worried if I overstep, he might fear me like he did in that other world. The dark world where I was a worse man than I already am. 

I’m trying to be better for him every day. I know that one day, I might one day reach the path I am meant to be on as his father, and I know that one day, he will understand why I’ve done what I’ve done. We still have our differences, Astoria. But I think our similarities are coming out on top. I like to think they are, anyway.

I will write again soon, my love.

Love, your Draco. 

* * *

** _Wednesday, 14 June 2023._ **

Dad,

<strike> _Well, _sixth year is a bit stressful, isn’t it? I mean– not to discount what _your _sixth year was like. I know that was a tough one for you. And… no . </strike>

Albus says I need to not worry about what I wrote before and not hide things from you so that is what I am going to do. If you can still read that stuff anyway. I did scribble it out a lot and the paper is crumpled up because I started to scrunch it up when Albus found me and he stopped me from screwing it all up. 

What I meant was I’m really tired and stressed out with school. It’s a big year, sixth year, and even though good things have happened and I’ve felt properly settled for the first time since the fourth year, and I’ve learnt to apparate and I’ve learnt lots of other things… the idea of being so stressed I might not pass my exams is kind of terrifying, dad. 

I think Albus is giving me the benefit of the doubt, though. Because he keeps telling me that everything will be okay and I am trying my best to believe him. He deserves that. He deserves people to not doubt him, and there aren’t often times when I doubt him anyway. I just don’t want to worry him with _my _constant worries.

Speaking of Albus, he had a weird moment yesterday where he gave me the silent treatment for an entire two classes. I thought he was mad at me but we talked about it at dinner last night and he said he’s okay, so I’m trusting him and doing what I said before – not doubting him. 

Don’t worry about it, and don’t involve Albus’ parents. It’s nothing serious, I promise you. But over Christmas break you _did _tell me to be a bit more open with you about things, so here I am, being honest with you and keeping you up to date with everything. 

I hope you’re okay at home, dad. I miss you every day. 

I’m excited to see you later this month after exams.

Wish me luck.

Love Scorpius.

* * *

Scorpius,

Your exam results will surely reflect how hard you’ve been studying, and I have no doubt that you _have _been studying hard. Your stress explains that enough. As for my sixth year, there’s no question that it was tough, but I truly do not think it’s fair to compare the two. You are a different person than I was at your age. We’ve both had our troubles and our trials, Scorpius. You are allowed to feel stressed and not compare your life to mine.

I’m proud of you, and I trust you. I trust that you and Albus can work out anything that goes on between you and I don’t plan to go behind your back and involve Harry and Ginny, as that isn’t fair to either of you, and I understand that.

I like you being more honest with me, but know you don’t have to share everything with me, Scorpius. Just hearing snippets of the good and the bad and knowing how you’re feeling is enough. I want you to feel like you can live your life without relaying every detail back to me. I truly hope you know that.

I hope your classes are all going well, and that you’re still enjoying Quidditch as much as you enjoyed it when you joined the team. Perhaps we, and the Potters, will get together over the holidays for a small game of it. What do you think?

I love and miss you too, and I will see you in a few weeks time.

Love Dad. 

* * *

** _Saturday, 17 June 2023._ **

June, Draco noted, had been a particularly somber month. He could barely remember one, or perhaps two, days during the month where it wasn’t raining, and it seemed the rain had reflected on his mood quite a lot – quiet, dark, stormy, dim. 

It was raining again. 

He stood by the window, arms crossed over his chest, and stared out at the rain falling once again from the sky. The green grass in the garden Astoria had loved so much was greener than ever, though now small muddy puddles had started to form in several places. He hoped the rain would stop before it ruined much more of it.

His eyes fell on a small rivulet that dropped down the window in front of him and, unwittingly, his lips turned into a small smile. When Scorpius was a child, he’d loved the rivulets of rain on the windows. Draco remembered one day in particular.

* * *

** _Wednesday, 18 June 2008._ **

While Draco sat at his desk and wrote letters to several Ministry officials, Astoria and Scorpius sat playing on the floor of the drawing room. His nearly three year old son was happy and giggling, and it was getting harder and harder for him to concentrate. There was rain pattering down on the roof of Malfoy Manor, and it was a place Draco still felt a little uncomfortable living.

He’d spent countless bad days here in his childhood.

The renovations to make it a better home for himself, Astoria and their son were well underway, but Draco wouldn’t feel like he was at home truly until they were completed. So, he busied himself with other tasks.

Outside, the rain got a little heavier. 

He was torn out of his thoughts once more by the sound of Scorpius’ voice.

“Mama– water!” 

Draco looked up just in time to see Scorpius waddling away from Astoria and over to the large glass doors leading out into the garden – a request of Astoria. His hands hit the glass, and his nose pressed up against it. The rain was being pushed by the wind into the doors, and Scorpius was intrigued.

Slowly, he sat his quill down and stood up. 

Astoria had crawled over to the window to join him. Draco stood a little further back, his arms crossed over his chest, watching his wife and son with amusement. Scorpius had always been so fascinated by the smallest of things.

“What’s on the window, Scorpius?” Astoria asked softly.

He looked at her with glee. “Water! Water on window!”

“That’s right,” she hummed. “That’s what we call _rain. _Can you say rain?”

Scorpius narrowed his eyes and then turned around and surprised Draco entirely by looking at him. “Can dada say?”

All wishes of finishing his work today disappeared, and Draco nodded and walked closer to them both. “I can say rain. Can you say rain, Scorpius?” He knelt down carefully on the floor beside his son. Astoria met his eyes and smiled.

He’d definitely seen rain before, he was, after all, nearly three, but he seemed particularly interested in this rain, probably because it was heavier than he’d ever seen it before. Scorpius turned and pressed his face up against the glass again.

Astoria laughed.

He pulled back away from the window and pointed at it. “Wain!”

“You did it, Scorpius! You’re so clever,” Astoria replied, excitedly.

That seemed to make Scorpius even happier, because he looked between both his mother and his father, then pointed back at the window and said it again: “Wain! Wain! Wain!” 

“Good job, Scorpius. You’re right. That’s rain!” Draco hummed. “Do you like the rain? Your mama likes the rain.”

“But your dada doesn’t.”

He met her eyes and gave her an amused look.

“Dada no like wain?” Scorpius seemed sad.

Astoria shook her head. “No, he’s scared of it.”

His eyes lit up, and he waddled the few steps to where Draco sat. He pointed towards the window. “Dada, wain good! Like wain!” He happily sat himself down on Draco’s legs soon after, despite the fact that it must have been an uncomfortable way to lay down. Astoria wished she could capture this moment forever.

Draco chuckled. “Okay, okay. Dada likes the rain.”

* * *

** _Saturday, 17 June 2023._ **

Scorpius,

Are you busy tomorrow? Perhaps you would like to get lunch at The Three Broomsticks. Only, however, if it does not impact your studies. I feel bad for asking,  but things are lonely here but I would like to see you.

Love,

Dad.

* * *

** _Sunday, 18 June 2023._ **

“I must admit,” Draco said softly, so as not to draw the attention of the wizards in the Three Broomsticks, some of which already looked at them, “that I don’t drink Butterbeer often, but this is quite nice.”

Scorpius, sat across from him, laughed. 

He’d replied his the letter his father had sent not long after it arrived at Hogwarts the night before and they’d set a time to meet at 1:00pm – so that Scorpius could get some studying done that morning, and not feel so bad about meeting up with his father that afternoon.

It had been too long since Draco had seen his son. He looked different than he had at Christmas, more stressed – yes, but there was something else in him that he couldn’t quite put his finger on. Whatever it was, he was intrigued, but not so intrigued as to question him about it. A younger, more careless Draco would have. But the Draco he was now knew better. He often remembered the time he had overstepped years ago, in Scorpius’ third year, sat in this very place. He wasn’t going to make the same mistake twice.

“Did you enjoy the cake I sent you for your birthday? It was from here,” Scorpius explained after taking a mouthful of his own butterbeer – one of his favourite reasons to come into Hogsmeade. “I worried it’d get squashed.”

Draco shook his head. “No, it arrived in fine condition. And it tasted lovely, thank you,” he spoke. “You know– your mother, she used to make the most delightful chocolate cake. She would have baked it for you, surely?”

“She did,” Scorpius confirmed. “For my ninth birthday, if I remember correctly. She left me the recipe, and I tried to make it once with Albus at his house last summer but it didn’t taste the same.” He seemed a little downtrodden by the fact. “I think it’s one of those things only she could do.” 

“That would make sense. There were lots of those things in her case.”

Draco took another sip of butterbeer.

It was good, for him and Scorpius to speak of Astoria like they were. It had been a few years now since she had gone, and while the pain still lingered on in both of them, and likely always would, they had, at least, found a sort of common ground. It was a common ground Draco had doubted he and Scorpius would ever find when she left. Some days, he still couldn’t quite believe that he’d found it. 

“So, your studying,” he changed the subject. “How’s it going?”

Draco listened intently as Scorpius described his studying habits, and how his first exams had gone last week. He only had three more to go this week, and it was clear that he was nervous about them, but according to the letters that Professor McGonagall sometimes still sent himself and the Potters, he needn’t be worried at all – he and Albus were flourishing in their sixth year, and while there were days that she didn’t know about, and things that even Draco didn’t know about either, things were better.

Things had been dark, and now slowly the light was creeping back in.

The two left the Three Broomsticks after another twenty minutes, Draco having bought another cake like his birthday cake – for later – and entered sunny Hogsmeade to say goodbye. 

He left with comfort in knowing his son would be home soon.

Draco didn’t like to believe in fate, or think in depth of the meaning behind things… but today, it hadn’t rained, and he had smiled more times than he could even remember… so perhaps, things were looking up.

* * *

** _Tuesday, 20 June 2023._ **

Rain had, once again, fallen over London.

Draco’s cloak was wet, particularly the hem of it, by the time he entered The Leaky Cauldron to meet up with Ginny Potter, and he was rather displeased as he pulled it off and hung it up. He cast a quick drying charm and then walked over to join the familiar redhead sat on the opposite side of the pub.

She looked up at him with a smile when she saw him, and then took him completely off guard by standing to give him a welcoming hug. “You didn’t get caught in the rain, did you? It’s horrible out there. I don’t know what’s been going on with London this month – rain nearly every day.”

“Yes, not such a warm start to summer, is it?”

Draco took a seat opposite Ginny just as a waiter came over and placed two drinks down in front of them. They’d had lunch at The Leaky Cauldron before, and Ginny, it seemed, had noticed that he ordered tea every time.

“No Harry this time?”

He’d joined them on their last lunch.

She shook her head. “No, he’s buried in word at the Ministry. He’s been complaining about all his paperwork all weekend. If you run into him, don’t tell him this, but it’s really quite nice to have a quiet house without him.”

Draco snorted. “Quiet houses are not so nice after a while.”

Ginny knew better than to look at him with sympathy. 

“The children will be back by the end of the week, at least. I’m taking in the peace and quiet while I still can – of course, James still comes around every now and then and does a wonderful job of bothering me. Funny to think, isn’t it,” Ginny mused, “that our boys only have one year of Hogwarts left now. Their fourth year – it felt like the longest year, it dragged for so long, and the pain dragged out alongside it, and just like that, seventh year is around the corner.”

“_Then _they’ll be home to terrorise you too.”

“True, that.”

She looked at Draco for a moment, and then sighed. Something was clearly plaguing her, and their conversation had been at fault for that. He was about to ask her about it when she beat him to it.

“Every time we’ve met up and spoken lately, I’ve been reminded of something from _years _ago – 2017, in fact. I sometimes wonder if Astoria ever spoke to you about it, but you’ve never mentioned it, so I’m led to believe she didn’t,” she began. “Did she ever tell you that we used to be friends?”

Draco raised his eyebrows. “I’m sorry?”

“In Albus and Scorpius’ first year, she and I used to meet up for morning tea sometimes. It wasn’t often, but it was enough. We used to write letters to each other – as our sons were friends and you and Harry, well, it was clearly going to be impossible to get the two of you to talk.” She seemed amused by the fact. “She was a little afraid to tell you. I think she worried you’d be mad.”

His heart rose into his throat. “Mad? She thought–”

He picked up his steaming hot tea and took a long sip despite the fact that it burnt his throat on the way down. Astoria had met up with Ginny _years _ago, and it had been a secret that had followed her to the– and she was _afraid_ to tell him about it. He felt sick to his stomach. He wanted simultaneously to stand up and leave, but also to listen to Ginny talk more about it.

His voice shook as he spoke.

“I could never be mad at her. I don’t know why– I don’t know why she never told me.” He shook his head. “It doesn’t make any sense.”

Ginny smiled somewhat sadly. “Astoria wasn’t afraid of you.” She clarified. “She was never afraid of you– she loved you dearly. I could see it in her eyes, hear it in her voice every time she spoke about you. I think she just feared you reacting badly and forbidding our friendship.”

He took another long drink of his tea again. 

“I would never have done that… never intentionally. I would have never hurt her– never–” He knew he was fumbling over his words, but he didn’t particularly care. “I– Ginny– _thank you.”_

She looked taken aback by his words.

“Thank you?”

Draco nodded. “Thank you.” He repeated. “I may not have thought much of you back then, and I may still have carried a fierce hatred for your husband in my heart then, but I do no longer. I respect you, and I– I respect the fact that you were a friend to her when she had none. That she found solace in your friendship. I just– I do wish she hadn’t been so afraid to tell me of it.”

She reached across the table and rested a hand on his.

“You don’t need to thank me for being her friend, Draco. Being Astoria’s friend was the easiest thing in the world. I only wish she could have been a friend for longer.”

* * *

** _Saturday, 24 June 2023._ **

As usual, eyes followed him around Platform 9 3/4 like those of a hawk. He felt them every time he moved, every time he breathed, but particularly when Harry and Ginny Potter, accompanied by their son, James, sidled up to him and greeted him with handshakes and hugs (the hug was from Ginny, and the handshakes from Harry and James).

Much like the year before, the group of them had found each other.

They were joined by Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley not long after, who also both greeted Draco as if they were old friends. His lips quirked up a little at the thought. These people – all of them – that he had spent his whole life hating… were now a happiness in his life.

He noticed Ginny start up a conversation with Hermione and Ron, and James was talking rather excitedly with a blue haired boy he recognised as Teddy Lupin. Harry, surprisingly, started up a conversation with him.

“Ginny told me about your lunch the other day,” he began. “I’m sorry I couldn’t join you. I’m sure she mentioned that I was a little busy at work.” 

Draco tried to hide his smile. “Yes, she mentioned something.”

By the look on Harry’s face, he knew what Draco meant. 

Harry clapped a hand on Draco’s shoulder. “I’m grateful, you know? For your kindness to Ginny. I know you never much liked her at school – but she adored your wife. And she finds great comfort in meeting with you for lunch. I don’t quite know _why,_” he fixed him with a smile, “but she does.”

Draco couldn’t think of the words to say – ‘Thank you’ didn’t seem right, and nor did ‘You’re welcome’, so he decided to stay silent, and for good reason, as Harry started speaking again only moments after, the words surprising him even more than those previous.

“I’m grateful for your friendship too, Draco.” He said, entirely nonchalantly, though Draco tensed up as the words were spoken. “Over these past few years, it’s been a great comfort to me as well as my wife. I truly am glad we were able to put the past behind us and start fresh.”

He opened his mouth to try and say something, but before he got the chance, the Hogwarts Express appeared before them, chugging slowly to a stop in the station. Harry squeezed Draco’s shoulder, and then returned to Ginny’s side to eagerly await Albus and Lily.

For a moment, Draco was utterly awestruck. Words he had _never _expected to hear out of Harry’s mouth had been spoken, yet he didn’t have time to ponder them or even speak to Harry about them because his son was barrelling into his arms, knocking him back three steps and also knocking half of the breath out of him.

He _gently _patted Scorpius’ back. 

“Could have warned me, son,” he coughed.

Scorpius pulled back with a sheepish smile. “Sorry. I was excited.”

“Was?”

“Am.”

Scorpius fell back into his fathers arms, and Draco was grateful now that Scorpius could hug him so easily. At sixteen, Draco never would have imagined being so comfortable. He was glad his son took after his mother, not him. That his son had turned out _nothing _like him.

He squeezed him tight. “I’m happy you’re home, Scorpius.”

“Me too,” he breathed, and then pulled away again. “I had an idea on the train. That cake you talked about– the one mum used to make. Do you want to go home and bake it? For a late birthday celebration for you.”

Draco raised his eyebrows. “I thought you said it was just one of those things that only she could do?”

“Well,” Scorpius shrugged, “how will we ever know if we don’t try?”

He smiled.

He really _was _glad Scorpius had turned out so much like Astoria.

* * *

** _Wednesday, 28 June 2023._ **

Dear Harry,

I’ve been thinking quite a lot about something you said at Platform 9 3/4 the other day. I didn’t get a chance to talk to you about it then, as the train arrived and I was too preoccupied with greeting my son, as you were with yours, and Lily.

But Scorpius has urged me to write to you.

I, too, am grateful for your friendship, Harry. 

After losing Astoria, I very much doubt I would have made it through these last few years and come out the other side as the man I am today if it wasn’t for the support you and Ginny gave me.

Thank you.

Draco.


End file.
